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LI YE S

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY,

WALTER FAEQUHAE HOOK, D.D. F.RS.

DEAN OF CHICHESTER.

VOLUME IV.
MIDDLE-AGE PERIOD.

History which may be called just and perfect history is of three kinds, according to the object which it
propoundeth or pretendeth to represent; for it either representeth a time, or a person, or an action. The
first we call Chronicles, the second Lives, and the third Narratives or Relations. Of these, although Chronicles
be the most complete and absolute kind of history, and hath most estimation and glory, yet Lives excelleth in
profit and use, and Narratives or Relations in verity or sincerity. LORD BACON.

LONDON:
BICHAKD BENTLEY, NEW BUBLINGrTON STREET,

jcr in (Drttmarg to |jer
1865.

The right of translation is reserved.

CONTENTS

THE FOUKTII VOLUME.

BOOK III.— continued.
CHAPTER X.

JOHN STRATFORD.

Born at Stratford-upon-Avon. — Parentage. — Educated at Merton Col
lege, Oxford. — Graduates in Law. — Counsel for the University against
the Dominicans. — Early Ecclesiastical Preferments. — Eminent as a
Lawyer. — An M.P.— A Clerk in Chancery. — Dean of the Court of
Arches. — A diplomatist. — Embassy to John XXII. — Bishop of Win
chester. — His appointment opposed by the Government. — Restored
to favour. — Takes part in the Revolution of 1327. — His conduct
towards Edward II. — Assists at the deposition of the King. — Perse
cuted by Isabella and Mortimer — Obliged to conceal himself. —
Restored to power by the Counter-Revolution. — Pilgrimage to France.
— Lord Chancellor. — Eminence as a diplomatist and statesman. —
Parliamentary Reform. — Formation of a separate House of Commons.
— A Law Reformer. — Translation to Canterbury. — Peculiarities of his
appointment. — Encourages trade. — His policy as chief adviser of the
King. — Disagreement with Benedict XII. — His view of the French
War. — Vigour of the Minister. — Intrigues against the Ministry of
Stratford. — Perplexities of Government. — His quarrel with the King.
— Libellus Famosus. — Spirited but temperate conduct of the Arch
bishop. — Summoned to Parliament. — Persecuted by the new Ministry.
— Acquitted by the King. — Restored to power. — Was Prime Minis
ter till his death. — Attends to ecclesiastical affairs. — Holds two
Councils. — Important regulations. — Foppery of some of the Clergy

VOL. iv. a

CONTENTS OF

censured.— Misconduct of Archdeacons.— Banns of Marriage. — Wakes.

Monks bad patrons of livings. — Archbishop chief counsellor to

Prince Lionel when Regent.— Measures adopted against Papal Pro
visions and Reservations. — Controversy with the Pope. — Anti-papal
Proceedings of the Archbishop. — Good understanding of Clergy ard
people on subject of provisions. — Modification of the Statute of Mort
main. — Battle of Cressy. — Retreat of Stratford. — Life at Mayfield.—
Charities at Stratford-upon-Avon of John, Robert, and Ralph de
Stratford.— His Will. — Dies at Mayfield .... Page 1

CHAP. XL

THOMAS BRADWARDINE.

A Native of Chichester. — Prosperous state of Chichester. — Gilbert de S.
Leofard. — John de Langton. — The Prebendary of Wittering. —
Richard Bury. — An uncouth student described. — Bradwardine ;i
Merton man. — Distinguished as a student. — Mathematical studies.
— The Classical pursuits. — De Causa Dei, edited by Savile. — Cele
brity of the De Causa. — Motive of the De Causa. — Prevalent Pela-
gianism. — Styled Doctor Profundus. — A practical man. — Proctor o:'
the University. — Controversy with the Archdeacon of Oxford. —
Neglect of learning. — Admitted to the household of the Bishop ol'
Durham. — Literary society. — Formation of a library by the Bishop.
— Bradwardine Chancellor of St. Paul's. — Prebendary of Lincoln. —
King's chaplain. — Goes to Flanders. — Royal progress up the Rhine
to Cologne and Coblentz. — Bradwardine Chaplain- General of the
forces. — Elected to the See of Canterbury. — Election superseded by
the King. — Ufford appointed to Canterbury. — UiFord dies uncon-
secrated. — Bradwardine elected to the Primacy. — Consecrated at
Avignon. — Strange conduct of a Cardinal. — Returns to England. —
The Black Death.— Bradwardine dies of the Plague . Page 80

CHAP. XII.

SIMON ISLIP.

Simon's gigantic stature. — Place of birth and education doubtful. —
Patronized by Stratford and Burghersh. — Early Preferments.— A
Lawyer—Dean of Arches. — Privy Councillor. — Private Secretary
to the King.— Penuriousness. — Peculiar circumstances of his ap-

THE FOURTH VOLUME. Vll

pointment to the Primacy. — Consecration. — Enthronization privately
conducted. — The Black Death. — Mortality. — Effect of the Plague.
— Flagellants. — Tolerant spirit of Islip. — Compromise between the
two Metropolitans about carrying the Cross. — Moral effects of the
great mortality. — The Jubilee. — Its fatal consequences. — English
prohibited from attending. — Increasing hostility of Rome on the part
of the Commons. — Attempt to restrict the Clergy and clerical duties.
— Sudden increase of Clergy. — Islip's Constitutions. — His writings.
— Provincial visitation. — Controversy with the Bishop of Lincoln. —
Contradictory Papal Bulls. — Difficulties at Oxford. — Provisions. —
Statutes of Provisors. — Statute of Praemunire. — Violation of the
Statutes by the King and Prince of Wales. — Case of Bishop Stretton.
— Controversy with the Black Prince. — Case of Bishop Lylde. —
Order of the Garter. — Ceremonial on the release of King John. —
Islip's benefactions. — Founds Canterbury Hall. — Statutes of the
same. — Paralytic seizure. — Died at May field . . Page 111

CHAP. XIII.

SIMON LANGHAM.

A man of wealth. — A monk of "Westminster. — His munificence. —
Abbot Henley. — Lawsuit with the Lord High Treasurer. — Abbot
Byrcheston. — Langham represents him at the General Chapter of
Benedictines. — Black Death. — Deaths in the. Abbey. — Langham
Prior. — Abbot. — His confirmation. — Rules of the Benedictines not
strictly observed. — State of the Abbot. — Langham pays off the debt
on the Abbey. — Langham a great architect. — Important works at
Westminster Abbey. — Langham's discipline. — Regarded as a second
Founder. — His benefactions. — Appointed Lord High Treasurer. —
Obtains royal donations to the Abbey. — Venison. — Relics. — Lang-
ham offered Bishoprics of London and Ely. — Chooses Ely. — His
consecration. — His Episcopal injunctions. — Feasts of Fools. — Lang-
ham's generosity. — Appointed Lord Chancellor. — His Ministry. —
Opens Parliament, 1363. — His speech. — His determination to enforce
Statute of Provisors. — Opens Parliament, 13G5. — His speech. —
Statute of Provisors made more stringent. — Pope retaliates by
demanding the tribute. — Opens Parliament, 1366. — Speech. —
Demand of Pope for tribute indignantly rejected by King, Clergy,
Parliament, and People. — Wiclif employed to write on subject. —
Wiclif preferred under Langham's government. — Langham desires
Church Reform. — Primacy offered to Bishop of Winchester, and
refused. — Accepted by Bishop of Ely. — Langham enthroned with

viii CONTENTS OF

much magnificence. — Archbishop's hospitalities at Lambeth.— Libels.
Gratitude of monks of Ely to Langham. — An accident. — Resigns
great seal. — Nevertheless opens Parliament 1368. — Arranges tithe
for London Clergy. — Condemns Scotales. — Rationalistic heresies pre
valent. Discontent among the people. — John Balle. — Hymn to St.

Catherine. Clergy required to arm their tenants in the event of an

invasion. Case of Canterbury Hall stated. — Nominated Cardinal. —

The King's anger. — Langham resigns the Primacy. — Pecuniary diffi
culties. — Reconciliation with the King. — English preferments. —
Comes on an embassy to England. — Re-elected to Canterbury by
Chapter. — Refused Archbishopric by the King and the Pope. —
Interest in the works of Westminster Abbey. — Obtains leave to
return to England. — Prevented by a paralytic stroke, which proved
fatal . . . . Page 163

CHAP. XIV.

WILLIAM WHITTLESEY.

Obscurity of early life. — Educated at Cambridge. — Master of Peter-
house.— Nephew of Archbishop Islip. — Studied Canon Law at Avig
non. — Judge of the Court of Arches. — Archdeacon of Huntingdon. —
Bishop of Rochester. — Translated to Worcester. — Translated to Can
terbury. — Recurrence of the Plague. — Enthronization conducted pri
vately. — Maintains Edward's right to call himself King of France. —
Whittlesey a confirmed invalid. — Unable to attend Parliament. —
Sent his proxy. — Only officiated once at a consecration. — Depressed
condition of the country. — Return of the Plague. — Party feeling. —
Clergy first regarded as professional men. — Attempt to form a lay
government. — Clergy required to arm themselves. — Offences against
Statute of Mortmain. — Clergy taxed by Parliament, — Whittlesey
attends Convocation. — Preaches. — Breaks down. — His illness. —
Anti-papal spirit among the clergy. — Embassy to the pope. — Its
failure. — A congress proposed. — Oxford empowered to elect its
Chancellor. — Otford. — Its medicinal waters. — Whittlesey at Lam
beth. — His will. — His death Page 221

CHAP. XV.

SIMON SUDBURY.

Family name Theobald, or Tybald. — Born at Sudbury. — Educated
abroad. — Graduated at Paris. — Patronised by Innocent VI. — Audi-

THE FOURTH VOLUME. IX

tor of the Rota. — Chaplain to the Pope. — Chancellor of Salisbury. —
Consecrated Bishop of London. — A benefactor of Sudbury. — Pur
chased the living. — His unpopularity. — Instance of his bad manners.
— His condemnation of pilgrimages. — Acquainted with Wiclif. —
Goes on an embassy to Bruges. — Failure of the embassy. — Unpopu
larity of John of Gaunt's party. — Sudbury translated to Canterbury.
— Overthrow of the Lancaster ministry. — Anti-papal proceedings
of the Good Parliament. — Splendid enthronization of Sudbury.
— Sudbury's munificence to the cathedral. — Injunctions to the
convent. — Another change of ministry. — Party spirit displayed
by Sudbury. — Convocation compels him to summon the Bishop of
Winchester, William of Wykeham, to that synod. — Sudbury officiates
at the coronation of Richard II. — Opens Parliament with a speech. —
Excluded from the Council of Regency. — -State of parties. — Proceed
ings against Wiclif. — Unwillingness of the English prelates to prose
cute. — Papal Bulls. — Proceedings atLambeth. — Visitation. — Exempt
monasteries. — Controversy with St. Augustine's. — Parliament at
Gloucester. — Violation of sanctuary by the partisans of John of
Gaunt. — Rights of sanctuary. — A convocation. — Constitutions
enacted. — Laws concerning confession. — The Archbishop settles a
dispute between the minor canons and Chapter of St. Paul's. — Dress
and allowances of minor canons. — Urban VI. Pope. — Dissenting
cardinals. — Urban acknowledged in England. — Change of ministry. —
Causes of discontent — Villeinage. — Villeins in gross emancipated. —
Discontented clergy. — Duke of Lancaster again in the ascendant. —
His policy changed. — Sudbury Chancellor, — Opens the Parliament
at Northampton. — Capitation tax. — Popular excitement. — Insurrec
tionary movements. — Sudbury goes with the king to the Tower of
London. — Wat Tyler. — Rioters reach London. — Their excesses. —
Destruction of the Savoy Palace. — They attack the Tower. — Murder
of the Archbishop ....... Page 244

CHAP. XVI.

WILLIAM COURTENAY.

CONTEXTS OF

conduct of John of Gaunt. — Courtenay resents the insult offered
to William of Wykeham.- Courtenay prosecutes Wiclif. — Scene
between him and John of Gaunt in St. Paul's. — Disturbances in
London. — Courtenay's conduct with respect to Hawle. — Change of
views in Courtenay. — His translation to Canterbury — Receives
the cross from Canterbury, under protest. — Made Lord Chancellor.
— Opens Parliament. — Infamous conduct of Parliament. — Courtenay
officiates at the marriage and coronation of the Queen. — Receives
the pall. — His proceedings against Wiclif. — Court of Inquiry at
Black Friars. — Earthquake. — Procession to St. Paul's. — Courte
nay's proceedings against Oxford. — He officiates at the King's second
coronation. — Visitation at Leicester. — His provincial visitation. —
Visitation of St. Augustine's, Bristol. — Opposed by the Bishops of Salis
bury and Exeter. — Constitution against Choppe Churches. — Schism
in the Church of Rome. — Boniface IX. acknowledged in England. —
Sale of Indulgences. — Statutes of Provisors renewed. — Unconstitu
tional conduct of Courtenay. — Jubilee. — Royal proclamation against
the jubilee. — Boniface IX. implores pecuniary assistance from the
Clergy of the Church of England in vain. — The Archbishop censured
by the Government. — He makes a strong anti-papal protest in favour
of the liberties of the Church of England. — Provisions of the Act of
PrsBmunire. — Difficulties at Canterbury and Romney. — Simple tastes
of Courtenay. — His benefactions ..... Page 315

CHAP. XVII.

THOMAS ARUNDEL.

THE FOURTH VOLUME. XI

of the King. — Opposition of the Earl of Anmdel. — Arundel accused
of treason. — Banished. — Goes to Rome, and received with cordiality
by the Pope.— The King's letter to the Pope. — The Pope afraid to
befriend Arundel. — Translates him to St. Andrew's. — Walden ap
pointed to Canterbury. — Arundel declares the translation a nullity. —
Retires to Florence. — Plans of revenge. — Exile of the Duke of Here
ford.— Arundel in communication with the Londoners. — His journey
from Utrecht to Paris. — Interview with Bolingbroke. — Lands at
Ravenspur with Bolingbroke. — Preaches Rebellion. — Attends Boling
broke to Chester. — Fearful perjuries on all sides. — The Archbishop
visits the King at Flint. — Interviews with Richard in London. — Re
signation and deposition of Richard. — Preaches before the Convention
Parliament. — Crowns Henry IV. — Resumes the office of Archbishop.
— Refuses to recognise Waldon. — Secular offices after the Revolution.
— Raises money for the Government. — Attacks made on Church

property by Lollards. — Antipapal legislation Manner of bestowing

high preferments in the Church. — Bianchini and Albini. — Controversy
with Oxford. — Proposal to exhume Wiclif. — State of parties. — Un
satisfactory condition of the country. — Statute " De Heeretico Coni-
burendo." — Proceedings against Sautree. — Trial of Badby. — Trial of
Oldcastle. — Arundel's statement of the case. — Death. — Will. — Inven
tory of his goods ....... Page 399

APPENDIX to Chap. XVII. . . . 529

LIVES

OF THE

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY

BOOK III.— Continued.

CHAPTEE X.

JOHN STRATFORD.

Born at Stratford-upon-Avon. — Parentage. — Educated at Merton Col
lege, Oxford. — Graduates in Law. — Counsel for the University against
the Dominicans. — Early Ecclesiastical Preferments. — Eminent as a
Lawyer. — An M.P.— A Clerk in Chancery. — Dean of the Court of
Arches. — A Diplomatist. — Embassy to John XXII. — Bishop of Win
chester. — His Appointment opposed by the Government. — Restored
to favour. — Takes part in the Revolution of 1327. — His Conduct
towards Edward II. — Assists at the deposition of the King. — Perse
cuted by Isabella and Mortimer. — Obliged to conceal himself. —
Restored to power by the Counter Revolution. — Pilgrimage to France.
— Lord Chancellor. — Eminence as a Diplomatist and Statesman. —
Parliamentary Reform. — Formation of a separate House of Commons.
— A Law Reformer. — Translation to Canterbury. — Peculiarities of his
appointment. — Encourages trade. — His Policy as chief Adviser of the
King. — Disagreement with Benedict XII. — His View of the French
War. — Vigour of the Minister. — Intrigues against the Ministry of
Stratford. — Perplexities of Government. — His Quarrel with the King.
— Libellus Famosus. — Spirited but temperate conduct of the Arch
bishop. — Summoned to Parliament. — Persecuted by the new Ministry.
VOL. IV. B

LIVES OF THE

— Acquitted by the King. — Restored to power. — Was Prime Minis
ter till his Death. — Attends to ecclesiastical affairs. — Holds two
Councils. — Important regulations. — Foppery of some of the Clergy
censured. — Misconduct of Archdeacons. — Banns of Marriage. — Wakes.
_ Monks bad patrons of livings. — Archbishop chief counsellor to
Prince Lionel when Regent. — Measures adopted against papal pre
visions and Reservations. — Controversy with the Pope. — Anti-papal
Proceedings of the Archbishop. — Good understanding of Clergy and
people on subject of provisions. — Modification of the Statute of Mort
main. — Battle of Cressy. — Retreat of Stratford. — Life at Mayfield.— -
Charities at Stratford-upon-Avon of John, Robert, and Ralph de
Stratford.— His Will. — Dies at Mayfield.

CHAP.
X.

John

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON was, towards the close of the thir
teenth century, the birth-place of two brothers, both of
Stratford, whom were bishops, one of whom was Archbishop' of Can-
1333-48. terbury5 ^th of them Lord High Chancellors of England.
Stratford-upon-Avon is now the most celebrated spo,
in all England — one of the most celebrated in the civilised
world ; but even before the birth of Shakspeare, it hac
become a town of considerable importance. It was ante
cedently to the conquest, and for some centuries after
wards, the property of the Bishops of Worcester. By the
Conqueror's survey, it appears that Stratford, then in pos
session of Wulfstan, the celebrated Bishop of Worcester.
was rated at fourteen hides and a half, there being at that
time a church, and also a mill yielding ten shillings a year
and a thousand eels. The value of the whole extended to

Authorities : — The materials for this life are ample. Birchington
in the Anglia Sacra has given a detailed account of his primacy, and
narrated minutely the circumstances of his conflict with Edward III.
The domestic history of that great monarch can scarcely be said to exist,
all modern historians having directed their attention to the warlike splen
dours of his reign. It is very difficult therefore to decide on the merits
of the Archbishop's controversy with Edward III. What is here stated
is deduced from a comparison of the Libellus Famosus, with the Arch
bishop's Excusatio. The other authorities are Adam de Muriniuth,
Walsingham, Dugdale, and the public documents, to which special
reference is made. Barnes is full of information respecting the reign
of Edward, though badly arranged.

AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. O

twenty-five shillings. Eichard I. gave it a weekly market, CHAP,
and King John an annual fair. In this record it is named — ^ >*
Stradford, from its providing the traveller on the great Stratford
street or road between Henley-in-Arden and London, with
a ford over the Avon.

The parents of our Archbishop were Eobert and Isabel.
They were nearly related to another distinguished Strat
ford man, Ealph Hatton de Stratford, Bishop of London.
It has been supposed, though not positively asserted, that
Ealph and the elder Eobert were brothers. If this were
the case, there must have been a great difference between
the ages of the two brothers ; for Ealph was nearly con
temporary with the sons of Eobert.*

The two sons of Eobert and Isabel were sent, at the
proper age, to the University of Oxford. John became a
Fellow of Merton, and his name appears frequently on
the Bursars' Books. He took his degree of Doctor of Civil
Law about 1312, and is said to have acquired a great
reputation for his proficiency in the civil and canon law.*)*

While John was yet a Fellow of Merton, a controversy
arose between the University and the Dominicans. The
Dominicans claimed for their scholars exemption from
certain exercises, and a right to confer degrees indepen
dently of the University authorities. As the Friars rested
their claim upon certain privileges conferred generally
upon their order by the pope, the suit was, in the first
instance, to be tried in the papal court.

Among the advocates and proctors appointed to main
tain the cause of the University, we find the name of Mr.
John de Stratford. The case was most probably heard at
Avignon, though Wood inclines to think that it wasatEome.

* He is mentioned by "Wood in a note to Eobert Stratford. Col
leges, 14. Newcotirt, i. 18, makes the Bishop of London nephew to the
Archbishop.

f Wood, ibid., Leguni doctor eximius. Ang. Sac. i. 19.

B 2

4 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The proctors of the University contended that it was

^.J^L^ an English case, and ought to be tried in the English

stmtford. courts ; and they succeeded. Certain commissioners

1333-48. }iaving been appointed, both parties were heard, and a

. compromise seems to have been the result, which placed

the Dominican houses in a position very similar to that

which was occupied in our own times by New College

in Oxford, and by King's College in Cambridge. Tli3

founders of these secular institutions probably urged the

precedent set by the Friars, to obtain exclusive privileges

for their respective establishments.

At what time Stratford was ordained, where, and by
whom, I have not discovered ; but he was certainly in
holy orders before the year 1319, for he then became;
Archdeacon of Lincoln, and he was soon after a Canon of
York.* These preferments he held, performing the duties
by deputy, in order to secure for himself an income while-
pursuing his studies or performing his duties as a lawyer.
As a lawyer, he soon rose to eminence in the King'e
courts; and during the years 1317 and 1318 he was
summoned, with other lawyers, before the Council to give
his opinion, as an expert, on various important subjects. •(•
In the following year, he sat in the House of Commons
as a member of Parliament, J and from the place in which
his name occurs, it is conjectured by Mr. Foss that he
was either an officer of the Exchequer, or perhaps a
clerk in Chancery. § In 1321 he became a judge, Arch
bishop Walter Eeynolds having appointed him Dean of

* Ang. Sac. i. 316.

•f In Fcedera, ii. 464, he is styled " Juris civilis professor." At p.
463 there is a letter from Edward II. to the pope, in which the name
of Master John de Stratford, Archdeacon of Lincoln, occurs. He is
frequently mentioned in the letters of the period. At p. 509 there is
a letter addressed to himself.

} Parl. Writs, II. pt. ii. 1471.

§ Foss, iii. 515,

ARCIIBISIIOrS OF CANTERBURY. 5

the Court of Arches. The jurisdiction of this Court, CHAP.
from the union of several other offices, discharged by the - — ; — -
same judge, became subsequently more extensive ; but in Stratford.
the time of Stratford it had relation, exclusively, to the 1333-48-
Peculiars of the Archbishop. These amounted to fifty-
seven ; the thirteen in the City of London having been
formed into a Deanery.

It was as a common lawyer that Stratford was distin
guished ;* and he was probably not deeply versed in the
Canon law by which the ecclesiastical courts were regu
lated ; for it is stated of him that, in his adjudication of
the cases brought before him, he displayed a quick
discernment and a consummate prudence, rather than a
knowledge of the law. But these were the qualifica
tions which would render him peculiarly valuable as a
diplomatist ; and in that capacity he was soon employed
by the government.

He was associated with Eeginald Asser, Bishop of
Winchester, in the various negotiations, which the inter
ference of John XXII. in the affairs of Scotland had
rendered peculiarly perplexing and difficult. Between
the years 1321 and 1323, he was engaged in frequent
embassies to the papal court at Avignon, Although lie
is described not only as Doctor of Laws, but also as the
king's ambassador, the position he occupied was one
rather of real than of ostensible dignity. He did the
work, while all that related to the dignity of the embassy
— a point much thought of — was represented by the
Bishop of Winchester, who defrayed the chief expenses.
The ability and diligence of Stratford, however, could not
escape the penetration of John XXIL, who determined to
bind the rising English statesman to himself, by the ties of
gratitude and motives of self-interest. On the 12th of

Wood, 152, Lcgis Crcsarca} professor.

6 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. April, 1323, the Bishop of Winchester died suddenly at
>_ x" _„ Avignon. The death of a prelate in curia, that is, while
Stratford, hi attendance at the papal court, according to the decretals,
1333-48. gave to t]ie p0pe a Tight Of nominating his successor.*

Had the English government been strong, the pope
would probably have consulted the king, before exercising
a right, which, though not disputed, was still regarded as
a usurpation. It was not disputed on this occasion, for,
while the Archbishop of Canterbury solicited the nomi
nation of Stratford, to whom his patronage had been
already extended, the king, Edward II., was as urgent
for the appointment of Eobert de Baldok, a creature oi
the Despencers.

Neither of the candidates were divines ; both of them
were lawyers and statesmen. The pope did not hesitate
between the nominee of the Archbishop of Canterbury, of
whose ability he had himself experience, and the represen
tative of the favourite of a weak sovereign. Consequently,
at Avignon, on the 2Gth of June, 1323, John Stratford
was consecrated Bishop of Winchester by Vitalis, Cardinal
of Albano.

The indignation of the king at the rejection of his
request, was inflamed by the Despencers, who regarded
the rejection of Baldok as an insult offered to their
party. The disappointed Baldok received the great seal
in the August following the consecration of Stratford ; and
the vengeance of the whole faction was now directed
against the new prelate. He was recalled and deprived
of his office as ambassador. Proceedings were instituted
against him in the Court of King's Bench, for, although
the king had recognised the right of the pope to nomi
nate under the circumstances, yet to accept the see from

* By the decree Ex Debito Extravag. Comm. lib. I. tit. iii. c. 4,
Stratford is described as " in curia tune praesens."— Ang. Sac. i. 316.

ARCHBISHOPS OP CANTERBURY. 7

the pope, without obtaining first the consent of the crown, CHAP.
was still an offence against the common law of the land. ^--^ —
In all legal documents his episcopal title was denied him ; Stratford.
for without the king's permission he could not take pos
session of the bishopric. His property was confiscated,
and a royal proclamation was issued forbidding any one
to harbour or relieve him.*

The persecution, however, did not last long. The
archbishop interposed his good offices, and as there was
no personal feeling of animosity against the bishop on the
part of the king, and as the government of the Despencers
was tottering to its fall, he was successful. The tempo
ralities of the see of Winchester were, therefore, restored
to Stratford, on the 28th of June, 1324 ; although he had
to purchase a recognition of his episcopal authority by a
bond, to pay the king ten thousand pounds, a payment
which was never enforced.^

Before the close of the year the Bishop of Winchester
was again employed on foreign service. It does not
appear whether, while he was abroad, he was made
acquainted with the intrigues of the queen, who went to
France in the spring of 1325 ; but it is certain, that he
took a conspicuous part in the Eevolution which was ac
complished in 1327.

A mystery, as we have had occasion to remark before,
surrounds this whole affair, which has not yet been
penetrated.

As the king did not labour under any special delusion,
he could not be treated as a madman ; but his weakness

* He suffered " innumeras tribulationes et persecutiones, adeo quod
nullus sibi victualia vendere aut domos ad inliabitandum vel moran-
dum conducere ac accommodare audebat." — Aug. Sac. i. 19. See also
Foedera, ii. 526, 527.

f Parl. Writs, IT. pt. ii. app. 258.

8 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of character, degenerating, as such weakness often
^_ ^' _, does, into immorality, rendered him the easy victim of
Stratford, designing men, who would pander to his vices and in-
1333-48. dulge him in his extravagances. To this weakness, which
amounted to moral insanity, a considerable degree of
obstinacy was, in this case as in many others, attached.
At a period when the powers of the prerogative were
great, and when those powers were exercised by un
scrupulous men, who converted the king into a puppet ;
the evils resulting from the mismanagement of the
government might easily become intolerable. The senti
ment of loyalty, under the feudal system, differed materially
from those notions upon the subject which have pre
vailed since the days of the Stuarts. The king, as
the chief of the nation, was bound, in the first place and
before all things, to afford protection to his subjects ; and
to him, as their protector, the people were, consequently,
bound to render certain duties. If the king, as in the
reign of Henry III., was unwilling, or, as in the reign of
Edward II., was unable, to afford protection to his people
— that is, if he were unwilling or unable to perform his
part in the national compact — the people might with
draw their allegiance.

We are not surprised, therefore, to find that the par
liament determined that Edward II. should cease to
reign ; although there was a doubt as to the proper or
best mode of effecting the object and of carrying out the
national will ; occasioned by that respect to law, which
always has predominated in the English character, and
has induced us to look out for precedents, even under
exceptional cases and at revolutionary periods.

What creates surprise is the conduct, not of the par
liament, but of Edward himself. It is surprising that one
who, if easily led, could still be perversely obstinate
when opposed, and who was not wanting in animal cou-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 9

rage, should have yielded on this occasion so tamely; CHAP.
— that he should have been so utterly abject — that he - — ~
should have abstained not only from resistance which he stmtfbrd.
could not offer with any probability of success, but even 1333-48-
from remonstrance.

There are certain facts to be observed : first, the sub
mission of the king to the will of parliament, without
remonstrance or murmur ; secondly, the gratitude which
he expressed to parliament for having elected his son ;
thirdly, the firm determination of his son not to accept
the crown, unless it were first resigned by his father,
whose right to possess it was implied in his right to
resign it ; fourthly, that a report prevailed, that Edward of
Carnarvon was not the son of the greatest of the Planta-
genets, King Edward I. It was said that the royal child
of Edward and Eleanor having been put out to nurse,
was mangled in the face by a sow, which, some how or
other, got into the royal chamber ; and that the affrighted
nurse, snatching him from the cradle, supplied his place
by the son of a carter.

To the story just mentioned frequent allusion is made
in the political songs of the day, though means were taken
in the reign of Edward III. to suppress the report. So
far, however, in spite of every precaution, had it obtained
credit, that an impostor appeared in 1318, with marks
on his face, said to be those inflicted by the sow, who
claimed to be the veritable Edward of Carnarvon.

I cannot but think that, through the influence of the
queen and her paramour Mortimer, using as their agent the
unprincipled Orlton — bishop first of Hereford then of
Winchester — the weak mind of the king was made to give
credit to this improbable story ; while, on the other hand,
the great statesmen of the day, such as Stratford, seeing
the fatal consequences to the reigning dynasty of the
propagation of such a report, not only exerted themselves

10 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to prevent its circulation, but were most careful to avoid
._ x> _^ any reference to it in the proceedings of a revolution,
Stratford, which, though regarded as a necessity, was conducted
1333-48. on principles that would lead to as few changes as
possible in the constituted order of things. The illegiti
macy of the prince would be involved in the illegitimacy
of his father ; and by mooting the question, a pretender
to the throne would be encouraged to raise the standard
of rebellion.

A key to many difficulties is afforded by our taking
this view of the circumstances of the case. Why should
Stratford, in the first place, be selected to take an active
part in the revolution ? The queen and Mortimer hated
him. But the young Prince Edward selected him, we
know, to be his adviser. The adviser of the prince was
not likely to recommend measures, that would imperil
the dynasty, which the parliament was determined to
sustain. The queen lent her support to the minister who
had sent in his adhesion to the revolutionary party ; but she
became his bitter enemy, when she found that Stratford's
design was to invest the young prince with the full
powers of royalty, and to constitute, as the adviser of the
crown, not Mortimer, but himself. She determined to be
de facto, as well as nominally, regent ; Mortimer was de
termined through the queen to be, though not nominally,
yet in reality, king. The queen and Mortimer saw that
to this arrangement the principles and the ambition of
Stratford would be opposed, and on the destruction of
Stratford they were resolved.

It is not, however, my business to pursue this subject
farther. I have only here to remark, that up to a certain
point the two parties — that of the queen and that of the
prince — acted in harmony. The parliament assembled
in January 1327. The question which the parliament
was to decide was, whether Edward the father, or Edward

AKCIIBISIIOPS OP CANTERBURY. 11

the son, should reign over England. When it was deter
mined that the father should cease to reign ; then to John,
Bishop of Winchester, the adviser and friend of the Stafford,
prince, was assigned the delicate and difficult task of 1333~48-
drawing up the reasons to be constitutionally assigned
for a measure so extreme. The work was completed
to the satisfaction of parliament by the bishop and his
secretary. The next step was to notify, in due form, to
the king, now a prisoner at Kenil worth, the determination
of the country.

It was determined that every class in the community
should be represented. At first, it was thought, that
every knight of the shire should be on the commission
— a fact which shows how much the influence of the
Commons had increased, though they did not yet consti
tute a separate house. But it was finally determined
that the commission should consist of three bishops, two
earls, four barons, two abbots, two justices, a certain num
ber of the citizens of London, and of the burgesses of the
Cinque Ports. Sir William Trussel was appointed pro
curator or proctor of parliament. He is called by Grafton
speaker of the House of Commons ; but, as the Commons
did not as yet sit as a separate house, this probably means
that lie acted as their representative, in conjunction with
the persons already mentioned.* They were to demand
of Edward the voluntary resignation of his crown ; and,
if he refused, they were authorised then to give up their
homages, and to act according to their discretion.

It was mercifully and wisely determined that the king
should be prepared for an event of such importance ; and
that he should be induced to submit with a good grace
to what was now inevitable. The persons selected to
wait upon Edward, from whom some opposition was

* My chief authorities for the following statements are Walsingham
and De la More.

12 LIVES OF THE

anticipated, were the Earl of Lancaster, a kinsman of the
fallen monarch, and John de Stratford, the counsellor and
stmtford. friend of the young prince. Constrained to resort to
1333-48. extreme measures in demanding the abdication of the
king, they both of them commiserated the fallen man,
and discharged the unpleasant duty to which they were
called, in a manner creditable to their feelings.

The earl and the bishop found the king humiliated and
compliant. They promised him the luxuries of a court,
and a retention of those external ensigns of royalty,
which were all that he had cared for, if he would resign
the substantial power, which he had only valued as means
conducive to the indulgence of his private tastes and plea
sures. He conceded everything ; and it only remained to
make preparations for the resignation of the crown, under
such forms as might give to a revolution in fact, the ap
pearance of a mere abdication.

When the way was thus prepared by Lancaster and
Stratford, the other commissioners arrived at Kenil worth.
On the 2 5 tli of January — the conversion of St. Paul —
the proper officers arranged in the presence-chamber the
crown, the sceptre, and the other royal ornaments.
Adam Oiiton, Bishop of Hereford, assumed, or was
elected to, the office of prolocutor of the commission.*

One by one in solemn silence the commissioners each
stood in the place assigned to him. A signal was given,
and the door leading to the private apartment of the king
was opened. Edward appeared, unattended ; not in royal
robe, or in armour, but in a morning gown. He was as
pale as death. Not a word was yet uttered ; but Adam
Oiiton, Bishop of Hereford, stood forth to address the
king. At the sight of this prelate Edward was seen to

* Orlton was consecrated in 1317, Burwash, Bishop of Lincoln, in
1320, and Stratford in 1323. We may presume, therefore, that Orl
ton claimed to lead on the ground of his priority of consecration.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. L3

totter : Stratford and the Earl of Lancaster rushed for- CHAP.
ward, and caught him in their arms. They were just in . — 5 —
time to prevent him from falling, for he had fainted, stratford.
They laid him on the ground, and there he continued 1333-48-
to lie, while his subjects looked down in silence, upon
their fallen king ; waiting to see whether this were only
a swoon, or whether, as was possible, it was the sleep
of death.

With returning life revived something of the spirit of a
Plantagenet. Edward, raised to his feet, refused support.
The Bishop of Hereford then read the address, which
repeated the articles drawn up by Stratford and ratified
by parliament, in which the charges of misgovernment
are stated as things notorious and beyond contradiction.
He concluded by offering to Edward, in the name of the
commonwealth, the alternative of an abdication in favour
of his son, or of submitting the government of the country
to a Eegent to be appointed by parliament.

While the Bishop of Hereford was speaking, tears
were coursing one another down the poor king's cheeks.
He continued to weep, and his sobs, for a time, rendered
him unable to give utterance to words. When he be
came more composed, he expressed his contrition for
having misconducted himself, and he humbly asked for
giveness from all who were present. He expressed his
readiness to abdicate, and thanked his people for choosing
his son to succeed him.

The prelates then came forward, and into their hands
he delivered the crown. The sceptre and other insignia
of the royal office he solemnly placed in the hands of the
persons appointed to receive them. Sir William Trussel,
who acted for the chief justice of England, and had been
chosen proctor of the whole parliament, now stood forth,
and said : —

"I, William Trussel, Proctor of the Prelates, Earls,

14 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and Barons, and other people in my proxy named,

._ ^' _„ having for this full and sufficient power, do surrender

Stratford, and deliver up to you, Edward, King of England before

1333-48. -j-kig tmie? t}ie homage and fealty of the persons in my

proxy named, in the name of them and every of them,

for certain causes therein mentioned; and do return

them up to you, Edward, and acquit or discharge the

persons aforesaid in the best manner that the law arid

custom can give it, and do make this protestation in the

name of all those that will not for the future be in your

fealty or allegiance, nor claim to hold anything of you us

king ; but account you as a private person, without any

manner of royal dignity. "*

The high-steward, Sir Thomas Blunt, immediately
broke his staff of office ; and soon afterwards, he dis
charged all the officers of the royal household, as if tli3
king was defunct.

Stratford was now appointed one of the twelve guar
dians of young King Edward III., or one of that board of
regency of which Lancaster was nominally the head.

It is easier to commence than to conclude a revolution ;
and the objects, which the queen and Mortimer had ir.
view^ could not be accomplished, if Stratford, whose in
fluence over Lancaster and the king was well known
should remain in office. What were Mortimer's ulterior
views it is difficult to surmise. At the present time, it
was his determination to govern the country in the queen's
name, and, as a first step, the destruction of Stratford
was determined upon. A demand was accordingly
made upon him for the payment of the ten thousand
pounds, for which he had given his bond when he
was put in possession of the temporalities of the see.
It was to serve some such purpose as this, and to
place a rising statesman at the mercy of the govern-

* Parl. Hist. i. 18G.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 15

ment, rather than from any expectation of payment CHAP.
that the bond was originally demanded ; and Strat- » — ; —
ford knew that the demand now made was a deck- Stratford
ration of war on the part of the queen and Mortimer, 1333-48,
who had secured the majority of the council. The popu
larity of the queen had not yet waned. The Bishop of
Winchester was well aware that his sacred character
would be no protection to him from the violence of such
opponents, and that his only chance of safety was in
flight. His flight strengthened the hands of his enemies,
who represented themselves as only desiring the capture
of a public defaulter. When Stratford, therefore, sought
sanctuary at Wilton, the monks warned him that they
were not strong enough to prevent its violation by the
mercenaries of Isabella and Mortimer, now on their
inarch to Wiltshire. As these men approached, Stratford
concealed himself, with a few followers, in the surround
ing marshes. From these damp quarters he escaped to
Honiton. Hither the spies of government dogged his
steps. He now thought of resistance, and repaired to
Winchester. Wolvesey Castle was the bishop's palace,
and had been made a fortress of considerable strength by
Henry of Blois, in the time of King Stephen.* But it
had been soon after dismantled by Henry II., and Strat
ford perceived, that it would not be in a condition to
stand a siege. It had, indeed, afforded protection to the
half brothers of Henry III. in the Barons' war, but at
that time they could appeal to the loyalty of the people,
and the old Norman castle, which, erected by William the
Conqueror, occupied a commanding position on the
south-west of the cathedral, was in the hands of the
royal party. This castle was now occupied by the forces

* In times, not yet forgotten by the writer, the Winchester boys
would assemble amidst the ruins of Wolvesey, to hold a debating
society — a parliament, at which speeches not ineloquent were delivered.

16 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of the queen and Mortimer; and a bishop, scarcely
« — ^ — • known to the people of his city, one who had hitherto re-
stratford. garded his diocese only as a source of wealth, was not

1333-48. likely to obtain a cordial support from the citizens, -even
if any support could have been rendered efficacious,
when, by holding the other castle, the enemy was in com
mand of the well-fortified walls, Hanked by numerous
towers, and defended by bastions.

Finding that open resistance to the government was,
as yet, impossible, the bishop now fled to another re
sidence of the Bishops of Winchester — Bishop's Waltham.
But still the vigilant eye of the enemy was upon him ; an I
Stratford was obliged to seek security in the neighbour
ing woods. In the recesses of the forest, the mercenaries
of the government were unwilling to entangle themselves ;
for here their superior numbers would have been of little
avail. The bishop had with him a force sufficient to
protect him from the attack of the other outlaws, who
sought shelter from the pursuit of their enemies. There
seems, indeed, to have been a kind of common law, tha;
the forest should be as a sanctuary, with the privileges
of which, no one, who was himself an outlaw, woulc
interfere. Under the greenwood-tree the bishop had the
daily service performed; and as the chaplains chanted
the psalms, they would compare their persecuted master
to the outraged David when flying from the unjust wrath
of Saul. Then would the dogs be called, and the bows
were bent, and hunting became a business as well as
a sport ; for the venison, which the bishop, as a Strat
ford man, dearly loved, was to be supplied by the cross
bows pointed by his attendants — perhaps by his own
right reverend hand.

In this his retirement, of which the remembrance was
not unpleasant, Stratford found means of communicating
with the king, and of warning him of his own danger,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 17

unless he speedily found the means of rescuing himself CHAP.
from the dominion of the queen and Mortimer. The , — ^ — ,
king was advised to prepare the troops, in whom he could Stra°tford.
trust for action on any sudden emergency. Both king 1333-48.
and bishop, according to the fashion of the day, en
deavoured to enlist, in their service, the spiritual hierarchy ;
who, in the world unseen, were supposed still to take a
part in the affairs of this world. They vowed to make
pilgrimages to sundry shrines, if the saints, thus reverenced
would make intercession for them.

On the fall of Mortimer, Stratford was, of course,
restored to honour. He received the great seal on the
28th of November, 1330, and was immediately released
from all arrears of his old obligations.*

And what was the first thing that occurred to the
minds of the warlike king and the astute statesman on
their resumption of power ?

We are told, that they arrayed themselves in the
disguise of merchants, and passed over to France, there
to visit certain shrines, to which, in their time of danger
and distress, they had vowed a pilgrimage. It was a
service of danger ; for by the law of nations, as it then
existed, the king, if found in a country not his own, might
have been made a prisoner, and the ransom, either in
money or in territory, might have caused the nation
expense and trouble. f

* Rot. Clans. 4 Edw. III. M. 16. Rot. Parl. ii. GO.

f Stow, 230. Polyd. Verg. xix. 3G2. The authorities arc not en
tirely to be depended upon ; but they record a tradition of an event
which was apparently so ill-timed, and so objectless as an invention,
that I am inclined to give credit to the statement. It may have
been well to let things cool down after the counter revolution, and
before the adoption of energetic measures. In spite of dates, we
might suspect the pilgrimage to have occurred just before the overthrow
of Mortimer. But it is not probable, that Edward would have obtained
VOL. IV. C

18 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Stratford retained office, at this time, for four years ;

L_ x' - and, as Edward himself describes him in the Libellus

Stratford Famosus, he was to the king as a father, and was next to

1333-48. him the most admired of all men.* He deserves, there

fore, to be ranked among the most distinguished of the
many great statesmen whom this country has produced.

Stratford is not indeed to be compared with Bishop
Burnell, the illustrious chancellor and minister of
Edward I. ; but he was a true patriot. He maintained
the principles of Magna Charta, and habituated the youn^
king to seek not merely money, but counsel and ad vie 3
from his parliaments.

The state of the country, when Stratford became th'3
chief adviser of the crown, was deplorable. In a com
munication made to parliament, it is stated, that divers
people, defying the law, had gathered together in great
companies, to the destruction of the king's subjects, the
people of holy Church, and of the king's justices ;
taking and detaining some of them in prison, until, t( >
save their lives, they paid great fines or ransoms at the
pleasure of the evil-doers ; robbing some of their good^
and chattels, putting others to death, and doing other
misdeeds and felonies. f

Among the personages thus captured by the banditti, if
we may employ a word which will suggest a comparison
between England of the fourteenth century and Italy
of the nineteenth, was the Lord Chief Justice of England,
Sir Eobert Willoughby.

To meet this evil, the system of county magistrates was
adopted — a vigorous and important measure, by which,
besides the itinerant justices, long since established,

permission to quit the country, and, if he had done so. Mortimer would
have contrived to have him detained in France.
* Birchington, Ang. Sac. i. 24.
Rot. Parl. i. 214.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 19

justices of the peace were instituted in every shire, with CHAP.
full power to punish offenders, and to appoint officers for > — ^-~

, . , . John

their apprehension. Stratford.

The energies of the Bishop of Winchester were, at this 1333~48-
time, severely taxed. While he was chancellor, he went
abroad on a mission relative to the affairs of the duchy
of Aquitaine, and on his return he had to open the
parliament at Westminster. This was usually done by
the chancellor in a speech from a text of Scripture, and
the speech was scarcely discernible from a sermon. The
fact is, that all that was required of parliament was to
sanction or to reject the measures proposed to it by the
king's government ; and, if the measures were sanctioned,
to vote the supplies. Except in times of great excite
ment, the policy of the country was left in the hands of
the king and his council. Parliament was not yet a
channel to preferment, and the majority of the members
were anxious to be released as soon as possible from their
attendance. Hence the merit or the demerit of the
political measures of the government must attach to the
king and his ministers.

To the political wisdom of this minister must, however,
be attributed a measure of parliamentary reform, which
had considerable influence in raising the parliament to
that importance, which it soon after reached.

From the time of Simon de Montfort, the Commons had
been represented in the great council of the nation ; but
it was not till 1332, that the knights, citizens, and burgesses
were permitted to form a separate and independent house.*

* Parl. Hist.i. 214. The Commons were at first only required to
advise the " Proceres," but the declaratory statute of York affirmed
that the legislative authority resided only in the king, with the assent
of the prelates, earls, barons, and commons assembled in parliament,
and that every act not done by that authority should be void and of
none effect. — Perry, xv.

c 2

20 LI\7ES OF THE

CHAP. The same principle was adopted when the clergy
-J^— assembled in synod. Two houses were formed, and thus
tmtford. ^n English synod assumed the form of a convocation,
1333-48. gimiiar to that which is in existence now.

When this principle was forcing itself into notice, the
question arose, whether, when certain questions, beyond
those relating to taxation, were submitted to the judgment
of the estates of the kingdom, the bishops were to discuss
them as barons in parliament or simply as prelates in
convocation. The prelates of this age were seldom
divines, and they were influenced in their decisions less
by any objects bearing upon matters purely ecclesiastical,
than by political considerations.

Stratford, one of the people, acted on the principle
of Edward I., and sought, through the popular side of
the constitution, to control the aristocracy. The greater
nobles were accustomed to attend parliament with an
armed retinue, which, if it did not amount to a little army,
resembled what we should now call a regiment of soldiers.
Each potent earl encamped his forces on the open ground
in the vicinity of a town, if parliament assembled in the
provinces ; if it assembled at Westminster, his inn or
castle became a sort of barracks, where the strictest dis
cipline was not enforced. The king could maintain his
own, when his forces were the more numerous ; but the
lesser barons, the knights, and the burgesses might be
easily overawed ; and by arrows more bitter than those
which fester from the tongue, the questions of the day
might be silenced or decided.

It was as a friend to parliamentary government, that
Stratford advised the issue of a proclamation, before the
meeting of parliament in 1332, directing that no man,
during its session, should presume to wear in the suburbs
of London or Westminster a coat of mail or any weapon
whatsoever. What Stratford commenced became, from

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 21

that time, a custom ; and whenever Parliament met, a CHAP.

similar proclamation was issued. No one was permitted »

to hold games to the disturbance of the parliament, or Stratford.

-i O O O I Q

any other plays for the amusement of men, women, and
children.

Stratford left the impress of his mind upon the Courts
of Law as well as upon parliament. The Court of
Chancery had hitherto been ambulatory, and the chan
cellor sat wherever the king might hold his court. The
present chancellor — Bishop of Winchester — procured a
royal mandate, by which the Court of Chancery was
henceforth to be stationary at Westminster.

During all this period, and throughout his tenure of
office, Stratford was engaged in embassies to France and
other foreign powers. The consequence was, that he
was frequently obliged to perform, by deputy, the duties
devolving upon him as a lawyer and as an ecclesiastic.
In the Court of Chancery his duties were performed, at
various times, by his brother Eobert, Henry de Clyff,
William de Melton, Archbishop of York, and some others.
His duties as a bishop were performed by a bishop in par-
tibus, who acted as a suffragan to the Archbishop of Canter
bury, and the Bishop of London, as well as to the Bishop
of Winchester. He first employed in this capacity Peter,
Bishop of Corbavia, in Dalmatia,* who assisted at the con
secration of a bell at St. Paul's, in 1331, and at the
consecration of a bishop in 1332. After the death of
Peter the same office was discharged by Benedict " Car-
dicensis " (Sardis or Sardica), who was prior of the Austin
Friars at Norwich.^

The neglect of a non-resident prelate performing the
duties of his office by a curate, so to say, was not likely, in

* Farlati, iv. 95. He assisted at the consecration of Roger Northburg
to the see of Lichfield, June 27th, 1332.— Stubbs, 52.
f Stubbs, 143.

22 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, that age, to interfere with his preferment in the Church.
._ ^' -x The Church was, at this time, co-extensive with the
Stratford, country ; and in serving his country, a bishop was regarded
1333-48. ag donig his duty to the Church. When, therefore,
Edward III. determined, that his chancellor should be
translated from the see of Winchester to the primacy,
the country endorsed the proceeding ; and his advance
ment was regarded as a tribute to the merits of one, who
had not only acted with discretion, but who had suffered
persecution at the hands of an ousted and unpopular
government.

On the death of Archbishop Mepham, the Bishop of
Winchester was translated to Canterbury.

In his appointment there was a peculiarity, which the
student of history will not fail to notice. The conge
d'elire was as usual addressed to the chapter, and the
king nominated Stratford as the person he expected the
chapter to elect or rather to postulate.

The tie which bound a bishop to the church to which
he had been consecrated, was considered so binding and
holy, that it could be dissolved only by the pope. It was
regarded in the light of a divorce. The chapter, therefore,
which required the translation of a bishop, postulated for
his removal from the see of which he was in possession
to the one to which he was elected. This had become in
most cases only a form ; but in this instance, Pope John
XXIL, or his advisers, took no notice of the postulation,
but proceeded to appoint Stratford, "non virtute postula-
tionis capituli Cantuariensis, sed proprio suo motu."*

This was one of those many attempts made, at this
period, by the papal authorities to obtain, under the name
of reservations or provisions, the entire patronage of all the
higher preferments of the English Church ; and it was to

* Murimuth, Cliron. 72. When a person elected happened to be a
bishop already, he was said to be " postulatus," not " electus."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

frustrate this attempt that the Statute of Provisors was CHAP.
passed in 1351, which led to a compromise hereafter to - — -
be noticed. Edward III., however, at this period of his Stratford,
reign, did not perceive that the proceeding involved a 133
principle ; and, so long as his end was accomplished, he
did not regard the means employed. The appointment
to the see of Canterbury was virtually in his hands, and
when the bulls for the translation arrived, he and his
chancellor thought no more of the subject.* The tempo
ralities of the see were restored on the 5th of April,
1334.

On the 28th of the following September, the new arch
bishop resigned the great seal. His object in doing so is not
apparent. His successor was his friend, Eichard of Bury,
a man of eminence, whom he had consecrated shortly
before to the see of Durham. It is possible that Stratford
entertained, on accepting the primacy, a wish to retire
from political life, and to devote himself to the duties of
his sacred calling ; but if he did so, he soon found that
he could not live without those excitements of public life,
to which he had been accustomed from his youth.
On the 6th of June, 1335, he was again in office, and
distinguished himself by the zeal he displayed in the
interests of trade.

* The bull by which this usurpation of the court of Rome over the
church of Canterbury was attempted is still preserved. It is dated at
Avignon, the 6th of the calends of December, and the 18th year of the
pope's pontificate. The policy of the Roman court was, by increasing
the number of bulls, to extract from the coffers of the provincial churches
as much money, as possible, in the shape of fees. There were six bulls
issued on this occasion. Besides those addressed to the chapter, there was
one to the clergy and laity of the diocese of Canterbury, another to the
people of the city and diocese, another to all the vassals of the church
of Canterbury, another to all the suffragans of the church of Canterbury.
All were published in the cathedral on the day they wore received. —
Battely, Part ii. Appendix 16.

24 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. It is curious to remark how, in the revolution of ages,
- — ^ — • our position as a commercial nation has changed. In the
Stratford, fourteenth century the English monks and farmers — the
1333-48. Cistercians especially — directed their attention to the
growing of wool, and we had enough and to spare.
But we had no skilled artisans to supply the foreign
markets with manufactured goods. The wealth of the
country depended to a great extent upon the expoit
of wool. In the nineteenth century, depending for our
wealth upon coal rather than upon our flocks, we tend our
sheep rather to supply the home market with good
mutton, and importing our wool from people who have
regard to the fleece rather than the carcase, our exports
consist of the manufactured article. It is highly to the
honour of Stratford, that he supported Edward in the
measures he adopted, if he did not suggest them, by
which he encouraged manufactures, partly through the
introduction of foreign artisans. Woollen factories were
established at York, and in Worcestershire ; Norwich
manufactured fustians ; Sudbury, baize ; Colchester, sayes
and serges ; Kent, broadcloth ; Devonshire, kerseys.

It would have been well for the peace and comfort of
Stratford's mind, if, on his appointment to the primacy, he
had retired from political life. When the king began to
think for himself, the promptings of a youthful genius were
not so easily restrained, as at first, by the sober judgment
of a less enthusiastic counsellor. Stratford evidently as
sumed, and retained too long, a kind of paternal relation
to Edward, and was more ready to dictate than to consult.
I have taken some pains to ascertain what was the
view really taken by Stratford with reference to the French
war. I have examined patiently the statements and
counter-statements made in the correspondence between
him and the king, to which more particular reference
will presently be made, comparing them with the his-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 25

torical facts, and I come to the conclusion, that Stratford CHAP.
was a consistent as well as a patriotic statesman.

He did not doubt the right of Edward to the crown of stiatford,
France. He expressly calls Philip of Valois a usurper.

Off-hand historians, in these days, pronounce the claim
of Edward to the throne of France preposterous and
absurd. So it was, according to modern notions, and at
a time when the law of succession has been settled
and defined. But we are writing of times, when many
points, now decided, were open to discussion. To
decide between Balliol and Bruce, as to the right of
succession to the Scottish throne, would be a matter
of no difficulty at the present time, but it required
the application of acute minds to the subject, before a
judgment could be given in the reign of Edward I.
Among the ancestors of Edward III. many sat on the
English throne, their right to do so being undisputed by
the majority of the nation, who would be, and indeed
by some persons are, in the present age, regarded as
usurpers.

We are not to suppose that Stratford was in advance
of his age ; and what was the prevalent opinion at this
time upon the subject of the succession, we have in an
ancient writer, Capgrave, who says : —

" Thanne rose the noyse thorw the lond that the kyng
had rite to the crowne of Frauns be his modir. For
Seynt Lodewik was the rithfulle kyng and eyir of Frauns.
He had a son thei clepid Philippe ; and that Philip begat
anothir, thei cleped him Philip the Faire ; whech Philip
had IIII childyrn, Ysabelle, inoder to kyng Edward ; sche
was eldest. The secunde was Lodewik ; he was kyng
aftir his fader. The third was Philip. And he had to dow-
teres ; on was weddid to the erl of Flaunderes, the othir
to the Delfyn of Vienne, and both deied withoute issew.
Thus deied this Philip withoute issew, which regned in

26 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Frauns aftir Lodewik. This same Lodewyk had to

. ^;__, wyves, on was dowtir to the duke of Borgayn. She had

stmtford no cnn*d ; anotm"r was dowtir to the kyng of Hungarie,
1333-48. of whom cam Jon, cleped Posthumus. Than was this the
ordre of kyngis. First regned Lodewik, the eldest son ;
and aftir him Jon Posthumus was treted as kyng. He
deied withoute issew. Than regned Philip the Secund
brothir, whech had to douteris, as we saide ; and neyth:r
of hem had issew. He ded, the third brothir regned,
cleped Charles ; and, because he had no child, he mal
a statute that no woman schuld be eyir of Frauns, t3
forbarre the rite of kyng Edward, his sistiris son." *

But it was one thing to admit the right, and another thing
to assert it by force of arms ; and Stratford was prepared
to make the greatest sacrifices for the preservation of
peace, considering, as he himself expresses it, " the peril
to soul, body, and property from the drowning gulf o?
war." Consistently with these principles, he headed the em
bassy, in 1337, which was sent to Philip to declare khi£
Edward's right to the crown of France ; and in several
other embassies he incurred danger, toil, and much expense.
But his voice was still for peace. He said to Edward:
"Assert your right : make that right the basis of a treaty
with France, which shall be advantageous to England.
Then, having effected this, renounce a claim, the main
tenance of which can be advantageous to neither country."
It was thus that the policy of Stratford was directly
opposed to that of Pope Benedict XIL, when, in 1337,
that pontiff sent his legates into England to effect a
reconciliation between the English and the French
monarchs. Benedict was a learned and a pious man, and
was sincerely desirous, no doubt, to stop any unnecessary
effusion of blood. But he was a Frenchman, desiring,
through peace, to promote the interests of the King of

* Capgrave, 20G.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 27

France. The pope and the primate agreed in their desire CHAP.
of peace ; but Stratford looked to English interests, > — V — '
Benedict to French. When the legates arrived in steSord.
England, they were, in consequence, treated with the 1333-48-
respect which was their due. The king sent his son,
the young Duke of Cornwall, afterwards the celebrated
Black Prince, to meet them.* The royal youth was
attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of
Warenne, and a few other prelates and lords. The king
received the legates at Westminster in the inner hall, and
granted them an audience in the painted chamber. The
cardinals explained the object of their mission, and the
king promised to lay their statement before his parlia
ment. The parliament in due time assembled, and, says
Capgrave, " whan it was aspied that they were more
favourable to the kyng of Frauns than to the kyng of
Ynglond, the archbishop roos up, and declared that they
were not sufficient reformeres whech held with the party. "^

* The Black Prince was invested with the duchy of Cornwall by
charter on the 17th of March, 1337, being the first who bore the title
of Duke in England. From this time the dukedom of Cornwall has
been vested in the heir to the English crown. The eldest son of the
King of England is Duke of Cornwall by birth. He is Prince of Wales
by special creation and investiture. The earldom of Chester was con
nected with the Principality, 21 Ric. II. To the dignity of Prince
of Wales, Edward was appointed by his father, May 12th, 1343. He was
the second English prince who bore the title. It was not bestowed on his
father. It was first conferred on Edward of Carnarvon.

| Capgrave, 205. — Several councils were held at this period, which
were probably called parliaments without being such strictly speaking.
A council was summoned for the 6th of July to meet the king, where-
ever he might be. As the cardinals left England on the 10th, this may
have been the parliament at which they received this answer. I do
not find any more particular account of the proceedings of the cardi
nals ; but from the strong feeling in favour of the war which imme
diately ensued, and from Capgrave's statement, we may infer that they
.said or did something offensive to the national pride. The feeling
against any political interference on the part of the pope was extremely

28 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. There was also a further view of the subject, which had

- — ' considerable influence on Stratford's mind. Popular as

Stratford, the French war became after the first successes of Edward,

1333-48. tjiere was? from the first? a powerful minority opposed to
it. The question occurred, whether, if the crowns were
united, Paris would not become the residence of the king,
and England eventually a mere province of France. This
feeling displayed itself strongly, even in parliament, when,
yielding to foreign counsels, and at the suggestion of the
celebrated Jacob van Arte veldt, Edward assumed the
arms and royal title of France. The proceeding was
viewed with such national jealousy and suspicion, that
Edward was obliged to enter into an explanation with
his parliament, and pledge himself to maintain the
national independence. So zealous was Stratford in all
the political measures in which he embarked, that he
crossed the Channel thirty-two times on various negotia
tions, and always at his own expense. But there was a
strong influence at work to counteract the counsels of tho
archbishop, and to alienate the young king's mind from his
old adviser and friend ; and among those whose ambitior

strong at this period, and the following principle was soon after expressed
by a contemporary : " It is to be noted that the pope may often err
against justice, and may excommunicate the true part, and give his
benediction to the false part. He may grant his indulgence to those
who are fighting on the false side ; and then God will give His benedic
tion to the true part, and the acts of the pope will not hurt it." — John
of Bridlington, Pol. Songs, i. 165. The anti-papal spirit, not on re
ligious but on political grounds, increased in vehemence during the
papal residence at Avignon. The manner in which some writers
assume, that the bishops must have always sided with the pope, displays
an entire ignorance of mediaeval feeling, and a forgetfulness that, in
England, the clerical character was too generally assumed by statesmen
and lawyers simply to obtain position and an income. At the siege of
Tournay, Edward III. was attended by seven earls, eight bishops, 28
baronets, 200 knights, 9 000 archers, all out of England. — Grafton, 348.
The word "baronets" is in Grafton, but he evidently means bannerets.

AKCIIBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 20

prompted them to war we must number Queen Philippa. CHAP.
She longed to see her husband a hero in the field of <: — V — •
battle. Those who are acquainted with that extra- stra°tford.
ordinary and interesting poem, the " Vows of the Heron," 1333-*8-
of which Eobert of Artois is the hero, will see at once
how powerfully foreign influence, supported by the queen,
was brought to bear upon the young king's mind ; while
they will feel astonished at the prevalent mixture of
courtesy and coarseness.*

The king, under the advice of Stratford, hesitated for
some time ; but, at last, the gauntlet was thrown down,
and hostilities were commenced, not by Edward, but by
Philip. Pending the negotiations, Philip attacked the
seaports of England, and encouraged the most flagrant and
cruel acts of piracy upon the coast, and invaded Gascony.
It was on this account, that the parliament consented to
a declaration of war. The conduct of the French king
served the cause of the war-party, as it inflamed the
anti-Galilean spirit, which now pervaded the country.
To France was attributed, in the popular songs, the
mingled qualities of the lynx, the viper, the fox, and
the wolf.

Francia, foeminea, Pharisa?a, vigoris idea,
Lynxea, viperea, vulpina, lupina, Medea,
Callida, syrena, crudelis, acerba, supcrba,
Es fellis plena, mel dans latet anguis in herba,
Sub duce Philippe Valeys, cognomine lippo,
Amoris nomen famam cognomen et omen.j"

Stratford was not in office when the war was finally
declared, and it was not therefore true, as his enemies
afterwards asserted, that the war was undertaken by his
advice. But when it was once declared, his earnest
desire was that it should be prosecuted with vigour. By
his advice an alliance was immediately formed with the

* It is published among the Reruin Britt. Medii ^Evi Scriptores.
t Pol. Songs, i. 26.

30 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. German princes. He exhorted the king to enlist in his

s_ ^ — ' services those mercenaries, who were adepts in the art of

stmtford. war, as well as to discipline his own forces. He promised

1333-48. to exert himself, and to make personal sacrifices in order

that the necessary funds might be raised.

Although the archbishop had again resigned the great
seal in 1337, it was not with an intention of retiring
from public life. He was active and regular in his
attendance on the Privy Council ;* and the great seal
was held by his brother Eobert, whose interests were
identified with his own. On the 28th of April, 1340,
he was, for the third time, appointed chancellor. f But
the infirmities of old age were creeping upon him,
and he pleaded this as an excuse for resigning the office
in the following June.J This resignation, however, was
only a renunciation of certain details of duty, for his
brother was again appointed his successor ; and on tho
king's going to the Continent, Archbishop John was
appointed President of the Council.

But his position was becoming day by day more irk
some. Although there was, as yet, no misunderstanding
between the king and the primate, there was an imper
ceptible but increasing alienation between them. The
king was surrounding himself with new counsellors, men
of his own standing ; and the archbishop, always
cautious, and growing more cautious with increasing
years, was not heard with the deference to which he had
been accustomed, when he counselled prudence.

This was the case in that rupture between Edward of
Windsor and John Stratford to which we must now
advert.

In the summer of 1338 the king had embarked for the
Continent, and the national feeling was gratified by the

* Foedera, ii. 883, 1115.

f Rot. Glaus. K. Edw. III. 1. M. 27. J Ibid 1. M. 13.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 31

manner in which he was received, as one of the greatest CHAP.
potentates of Europe, during his triumphant progress up —^
the Ehine to Coblentz, where he was appointed Vicar of stnrtford
the Empire. England was proud of the homage paid to
her royal representative ; and, wherever Edward went,
princes of the empire and burghers of the free towns,
great men, representing every grade of society, from
Jacob von Arteveldt, the republican, to Louis of Bavaria,
all conspired to do honour to a prince, who could make
himself welcome in the warehouse of the merchant, as
well as in the tournament of knights and nobles. Edward
went on, right royally, determined to carry his objects,
and utterly regardless of the means to be employed, or
the possible consequences. He required a large army,
and he stipulated the payment of large sums to the cap
tains of those armed bands which, under distinguished
commanders, came into the war-market to sell their ser
vices to the highest bidder. Little better than such a
trader was the king's brother-in-law, the Emperor Louis,
when, on the promised payment of 300,000 florins, lie
undertook to send two thousand lances to the field, to
fight, in point of fact, his own battle. Most of the
princes of the empire, including the Margrave of Bran
denburg and the Count of Nassau, were in Edward's pay,
as were the courtiers to whose opinions the Emperor and
Empress were supposed to defer.

The king expected to be able to fulfil his engagements
by the plunder of the enemy. This was considered so
good an investment, that the merchants in Flanders were
ready to advance, at a rate of interest in proportion to
the risk, any ready money he required ; and the home
government felt so certain of success, that many of the
officials, including the archbishop, became personally re
sponsible for large sums, while the country — clergy and
laity — voted the most liberal subsidies. In the hope of

32 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, sharing the plunder, men from all quarters flocked to

— ^ — ' the standard of the first general of the age.

stratfol-d. Under such a state of things despatch was everything.

1333-48. j)e}ay was ruin. Whether fighting or not, men were to
be fed and clothed. Every day of inaction added to the
debt which the king was incurring. This was known to
the enemy, who sought to avoid an engagement as long
as possible, and amused the lukewarm allies of Edward
by negotiations. The troops began to murmur. The,
merchants of Flanders refused to make any further loans.
Time was required to collect the money, which had been
voted by England ; and, when collected, it was only suffi
cient to meet the demands of creditors becoming more
clamorous as the prospect of immediate war was removed.
The king reproached Stratford, and complained of his
want of zeal. In short, in the November of 1339, King
Edward was placed under circumstances, which would
have crushed an ordinary mortal. His fall had been as
rapid as his rise. He who, a few months before, had been
courted by all the powers of Europe, except those who
were in league with France and the pope, was now de
serted by his allies, and obliged from want of funds to
disband his mercenary troops.

A great mind is proved under such trials. Instead of
quarrelling with the allies who might hereafter render
him assistance, Edward overlooked, though he was aware
of, their treasonable correspondence with the enemy ; and
he thanked them for their past services. He obtained
permission of his creditors to visit England, and left
Queen Philippa in pawn for his return. His appearance
in England revived the slumbering loyalty of the people.
An enthusiasm was excited in his favour. When they
heard of the queen left an exile in Ghent, their compassion
was excited, and her royal husband obtained an unpre
cedented supply from parliament and convocation.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 33

The country was rewarded for its generosity by the CHAP.
first great naval victory of England — a victory gained >- — A—
against unequal numbers — one of the most splendid among Stratford.
the splendid naval victories of which England can boast —
the victory of Sluys. Once more the allies of Edward
rallied round his standard, eager to assist in expending
the treasures, with which the king had come laden from
England ; and anticipating the plunder of fresh towns.
An army of a hundred thousand men was now under
Edward's command. But the campaign, though not dis
graceful to his arms, was, in regard to political conse
quences, a failure. The mercenary troops and the Ger
man princes were not content with barren honour. When,
after a siege of nine months, instead of capturing Tournay,
the king was obliged to seek or consent to a truce, he
found himself involved in debt to the enormous amount of
three hundred thousand pounds.* The towns of the enemy
retained their wealth ; the allies of Edward claimed the
discharge of their arrears. The usurers, of whom he had
borrowed money, at an exorbitant interest, were urgent
for payment. He wrote to Stratford for an immediate
supply of money ; and received for answer that he had
forestalled his income. The treasury was exhausted.
When an appeal was made to the people, it was natural

* Knighton, 2573. Froissart, c. 39, 40, 41. It is due to Stratford
to mention some of the enormous sums squandered by Edward. To the
emperor he gave 8,227/. Is. ; to the Margrave of Juliers, 8,9G2/. 10s.;
to Count Reinald of Gtieldres, who had lately been made duke,
4,G12/. 105. ; to Dietrich Von Faltenberg, 3,8G4/. 8s. 3d. ; to the
Count of Hainault, 3,150/. ; to the Duke of Brabant, GOO/. ; to the
Archbishop of Treves, 506Z. 5s. ; which must all be multiplied by
fifteen or twenty, and some say twenty-five, to bring the sums to the
present value of money. They were drawn on the Hanseatic Exchange,
which brought him into the troubles mentioned in the text, and for
these sums he endeavoured to make his ministers responsible. See
Pauli, 171.

VOL. IV. D

34 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to ask what had become of the enormous sums which had

> ^ — . been placed at the king's disposal ? He had been as a

Stratford, gambler. Expecting to revel in the riches of France he
1333-48. kad rjskeci an? and he had lost. Moreover, sinister reports
reached England from the camp. A profuse expenditure1,
it was said, and with too much truth, had enriched
the sycophants and flatterers, by whom he had surrounded
himself. Worst of all, Edward, whose weakness as to
women remained to the last, was said to be under the
influence of a mistress who had command of his purse. ^
All these parties conspired to prejudice the royal nrind
against the Stratfords. If the archbishop and his bro
ther, it was said, had exerted themselves, they might
have obtained what was necessary to meet the present
exigence : an assertion which carried with it its own re
futation, when it was added, that the archbishop had made
himself personally responsible for the king's debts. It
was insinuated, that Stratford had been bought by the
French king, and that he had been intimidated by the
French pope — libels, which have'been repeated in modern
times, though the accusation was not only not proved, but
is actually inconsistent with the whole character, mind,
and temper of the times.

The king was urged, as we should now say, to change
his ministers, and to replace them by the friends who sur-

* For these statements see the Political Songs, particularly a very
curious poem under the pseudonym of John Bridlington. Political
songs are often mere libels, or the witty repetition of scandal, and are
therefore to be received with caution. But after making every allow
ance, the political songs of Edward's time bear out the statements made
in Stratford's exculpatory letter and other contemporary documents.
The amatory propensities of Edward III. involved him in difficulties to
the very close of his reign. At this time he was in other ways demo
ralised, as maybe seen in his conduct to the parliament of 1340, when
to obtain a subsidy he made concessions to his people, which, when his
object was attained, he revoked, asserting that his promises had been
made with mental reservation.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 35

rounded him,* whose dislike of the Stratfords was in- CHAP.
creased by their appetence for place. The new friends > — t- — '
of the king urged upon him to compel the archbishop to stra°tford.
mortgage his estates for the payment, in part at least, of 1333-i8-
the king's debts ; and they proposed to have recourse to
an exercise of the royal prerogative, by which, in defiance
of Magna Charta, and without the consent of parliament,
money might be extracted, sword in hand, from the
people.

While demands for impossible sums of money were
made from abroad, the ministry at home could not main
tain the common establishments of the country. London
was without a garrison; the country had been drained of men
as well as of money ; a fleet of pirates might have sailed up
the river and have plundered the metropolis. The royal
family were in the Tower, but while the fortress was un
defended it was scarcely possible to obtain the necessaries
of life or suitable attendance in that part of the Tower,
which was the palatial residence of the royal children.
The ministers were in despair, f

The archbishop was accustomed to sleep at Lambeth,
and thence to drop down in his barge to the city to tran
sact business with his brother the chancellor and the

* One measure was suggested to the king which marked the com
mencement of a new era. He was advised to employ laymen in future
instead of ecclesiastics in the public service ; and this, throughout, was
the policy of John of Gaunt, the principle, so to say, of his party. The
time had not come, however, for such a change. Edward did indeed
for the first time appoint a layman to be chancellor, Sir Robert dc
Bourchier, a gallant soldier, being appointed with a salary of ^?500 a-
year besides the accustomed fees. But the military chancellor was a
failure.

f The whole of this narrative is given upon a careful comparison of
the various authorities, taking Birch ington in the Anglia Sacra for the
basis, Walsingham, edit. Kiley, Grafton, Stow, Dugdale, the Libellus
Famosus, and the Excusatio Archiepiscopi ad Libellum Famosum, with
other documents not to be found in Birchington and Walsingham.

D 2

36 LIVES .OF THE

CHAP, other counsellors, who formed the regency. But he was
now an old man, and required rest and repose. On the
29th of November, he retired for a short time to another
manor of the see, at Charing, in Kent. This was a favour
ite and convenient retreat. Standing on an old Eoman
road which joins that, which runs through the valley of
Ashford to Canterbury, forming, indeed, part of "the pil
grim's way," Charing was easily accessible both from Canter
bury and from London. Here, wrhile thinking, with some
anxiety, of his future and of the conduct of the king,—
exasperated against him by the influence of the mistress
obscurely hinted at, in the political songs of the day, ae
Diana — he found some measure of consolation and support.
as he looked upon the veritable block, on which John Bap
tist was beheaded. This had been brought, as a precious
relic, from Palestine, and presented to the parish church
of Charing by Eichard I. Stratford sighed for peace :

Otium Divos rogat in patent!
Prensus

But whatever may have been his reveries, he was soon
awakened from them by the intelligence, that the king
was in London. He could hardly believe his informant,
that the king, accompanied by the queen, had arrived in
London on the 30th, for, during the preceding night, a tem
pest had raged, through which it was considered scarcely
possible that a ship, such as ships then were, could have
lived. The storm, it was said and believed, had been
raised by the French necromancers, under the expectation
that it would cool the courage of Edward, and effectually
prevent him from putting to sea again. But Stratford had
no time to investigate the rhodomontade of the French ;
he heard, and was not surprised to hear, that the anger
of the king exceeded all bounds, when, on coming sud
denly and unexpectedly to England, lie found his capital

ARCHBISHOPS OP CANTERBURY. 37

unprotected, and witnessed the neglected condition of his CHAP.
children. The fact Stratford had deplored ; but the fact v__^
being so, he knew, that Edward was not a man for half gjatford
measures. He felt that he was not safe at Charing. His 1333~48-
palace at Canterbury was without a garrison, without even
a household. He determined, therefore, to throw himself
on the hospitality of the monks of Christ Church. It was
a rare thing for an archbishop to be on good terms with
his convent ; but fortunately for Stratford, when he took
up his abode among them, as he had a right to do, he
found them prepared to act as his friends. He retired to
Canterbury, and there, taking up his abode in the priory,
he prepared, as Primate of all England, to meet the attack
of his enemies.

The first news that reached him was, that his brother,
— Bishop of Chichester and Chancellor of England, — the
treasurer, and all the great officers of state, together with
the lord mayor of London, were in prison. Orders came
down for the removal of the sheriff of Kent ; and notice
was given, that justices were appointed to investigate the
conduct of the sheriffs also of the shires, and of all whose
business it had been to collect the taxes. A rumour reached
him of its having been determined, that the archbishop
and the lord treasurer (the Bishop of Lichfield), should be
immediately deported to Flanders, there to he as pledges
for the money, which the king had borrowed, and which
they ought to have enabled him to pay.

Soon after Sir Nicolas Cantilupe arrived at Canterbury,
attended by a considerable number of the nobility and
by a notary public. He caused it to be proclaimed, that
the archbishop had bound himself to certain foreign mer
chants, under penalty of forfeiting his goods, for certain
sums of money borrowed by the king to defray the ex
penses of the war ; that for want of receiving this money
the king's army had been reduced to the greatest distress,

John

38 LIVES OF THE

and the operations of the war had been suspended. He
now, in the king's name, required of the archbishop to ad-
stratford. vance the money due to the creditors of the king, or else
1333-48. to deliver himself up to their custody, until the whole sum,
for which he was bound, had been discharged.

He demanded an immediate answer. The answer was,
that, in a matter of such importance, the archbishop
must take time to consider what that answer should be.
Stratford then addressed letters to the king entreating him
to dismiss from his counsels the new advisers, who made in
their business to calumniate his old and long- tried friends.
Throughout the correspondence, indeed, he was careful
to distinguish between the king and his ministers, — that
important precaution by which Englishmen have been
accustomed to criticise freely the actions of the govern
ment, without renouncing their loyalty to the sovereign.

When no notice was taken of his letters, which he
suspected were not shown to the king, he determined upon
an aggressive movement. He summoned the people to
the cathedral. There was an immense assembly. He
went in state to the church. The great western door
was thrown open. He was incensed by the prior. He
was met by the members of the chapter and the other
officials with tapers in their hands. He was thus escorted
to the pulpit. With their tapers lighted, the clergy
arranged themselves on either side. The whole nave
was thronged with people, breathless with expectation of
what was to take place. The archbishop selected for his
text Ecclus. xlviii. 12 : "Elias it was who was covered
with a whirlwind, and Eliseus was filled with his spirit ;
whilst he lived, he was not moved with the presence of
any prince, neither could any bring him into subjection."
He turned, as he spoke, towards the shrine of St.
Thomas of Canterbury, to whom the people recognised
the text as applicable. His spirit was abased, he said,

AECHBISHOPS OF CANTEKBUKY. 39

before the wisdom of the martyr. When St. Thomas CHAP.

-T7-

was enthroned on the marble chair, he resigned the chan
cellorship, and renounced every secular pursuit. Tears
rolled down the old man's cheeks, arid for a short time
stopped his utterance. When he broke the sympathetic
silence, it was to acknowledge and confess that, to his
having disregarded the care of his flock to serve the king
and the kingdom, his present difficulties and sorrows, the
very fact, that his life was in danger, were all to be attri
buted. He there and then pledged himself thenceforth
to the zealous performance of those duties, which his
province and his diocese had a right to expect from him,
and which he had hitherto neglected. At the conclusion
of the sermon, the people knelt ; but, instead of giving
the benediction, the Primate of all England pronounced
sentence of excommunication upon all, the king and his
family alone excepted, who should disturb the peace of
the kingdom ; who should lay violent hands upon the
persons, lands, goods, or purses of the clergy ; or should
violate the liberties of the Church. The anathema applied
especially to all who, by any decree, should lessen the
privileges conceded to the country by Magna Charta ; to
all who should bring a false accusation against any person
whatsoever ; to all, who should bring an archbishop or any
bishop of his province into the king's hate or anger, and
accuse him or them of treason, or any other notorious and
capital crime, falsely.

As he ended, the torches were extinguished. The bell
tolled. A stench unbearable filled the church. There was
no procession. Every one retired in confusion and haste.

When the archbishop reached the prior's lodgings, he
issued a mandate to the Bishop of London and all his
suffragans, to cause the sentence of excommunication to
be published in every church.

The eloquence of the whole transaction was felt

40 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, throughout the country. Canterbury was filled with pil-

v__^ . grims, who, on their way home, would descant on the

stmtford. wrongs and on the penitence of the primate, on his
1333-48. patriotism and his firmness. He had placed himself
under the powerful protection of St. Thomas, taking him
for his example. Thomas-a-Becket was not then regarded
as the emblem of clerical intolerance or ambition : he
was venerated as the saint, who was still engaged in pro
tecting the weak against the strong, and vindicating
popular rights against the aggression of kings. Kings
still bowed the knee at his shrine in fear; the people
worshipped him ; and when his successor became his
devotee, he was at once popular. To the popular rights
as maintained in Magna Charta, and to parliamentary go
vernment Stratford had always been loyal; and now he
insinuated that, through the new advisers of the king,
those rights of the people, as well as the liberties of the
Church, were in danger.

The position of the archbishop was strengthened by
the fact, that the king's advisers were afraid to face a
parliament, and were evidently persuading the king to
govern by his prerogative. A council, to be composed of
their own party, they determined to call ; and before it
to compel the archbishop to appear. For this purpose,
Ealph Lord Stafford arrived at Canterbury, attended by
the proper officials, and served a writ upon the arch
bishop, requiring him to repair immediately to the king ;
to consult, in the royal presence, with sundry prelates
and lords, upon the conduct of the war, and to enter, at
the same time, into a defence of his own proceedings. A
safe-conduct was offered.

The archbishop received the summons with proper re
spect, and promised to take the subject into consideration.

Soon after, messengers arrived in Canterbury from the
Duke of Brabant, and demanded an audience of the

AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 41

archbishop. This he refused. They then affixed a sum- CHAP.
mons to the door of the priory, citing the archbishop to v_^_
the Duke of Brabant's court of justice, that he might str^tford.
lawfully answer, in Flanders, for the debts of the king of 1333-48-
England, for whose debts he stood engaged ; there to
remain, until his lord's debts were fully cleared, according
to the oath on that part by him made.

Almost contemporaneously with this, the prior received
a letter in the king's name, which he and the convent
were required to read publicly to the people. It was a
circular, addressed to the Bishop of London, and intended
as an answer to the archbishop's sermon. In this letter
it was stated, that the war was undertaken by the king at
the archbishop's advice, to recover his right- and his
inheritance ; that now the archbishop, the author of the
war, having conspired with his enemy, the French king,
advised the king of England to renounce his right, and
to disband his forces ; that he had not, according to his
promise, purveyed sufficiently for his army; that he had
not satisfied the foreign creditors of the king, of whom,
upon his security, the king had taken up vast sums of
money for the war ; and that now, when called to account
for his administration, he thought by his censures and
excommunications to elude a trial.

., The prior laid the letter before the primate. Lent was
now approaching, and it was known, that, on Ash Wednes
day, the archbishop would again address the people.
Indulgences were offered to induce the people to attend.
The cathedral was crowded. The archbishop ascended
the pulpit. He took for his text Joel ii. 12, " Therefore
now, saith the Lord, turn ye even unto me with all your
heart, and with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, and
rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto
the Lord." The whole chapter was applicable to the
existing state of the country. When the sermon was

42 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, concluded, the archbishop directed one of the monks to
read the letter addressed to the Bishop of London in the
king's name. In order that every one might clearly
understand the nature of the charges brought against
him, he directed that it should be read in the mother
tongue. He desired no concealment. Then, one by one,
article after article, he either refuted every charge, that
was brought against him, or entered into an explanation,
by which, what was intended to disgrace him redounded
to his credit. He vindicated his loyalty to the king, and
his integrity in managing the affairs of the country. Th 3
sermon over, he directed the substance of it to be reduced
to writing. The scribes in the scriptorium were employed
day and night, encouraged by his presence ; and copies of
his defence were circulated throughout his province.
Orders were given that it should be read in every church.
It was thus, before printing, that public documents were
published by the clergy from the pulpit, by the officials
of the state in the market-place.

Not content with this, the archbishop addressed a
letter, also published, to the king himself. He evinced
no anger against the king, whom he addressed as
Carissime Domine ; but wrote rather in sorrow, and witli
a view to warn him of his danger, in surrounding himself,
like Eehoboam, with young and inexperienced counsellor?,
who consulted the royal wishes and their own interests
rather than the well-being of the realm. He adverted to
the sad fate of the king's father (whom God assoile !) occa
sioned by his violation of the laws, especially of Magna
Charta, and his disregard of parliament. He alluded
to the former unpopularity of the king himself, and the
dangers which surrounded the throne, when the bad
counsels of Isabella and Mortimer prevailed. He con
trasted this witli the subsequent popularity of the king,
who received eater supplies from the people than any

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 43

preceding sovereign; with his successful and victorious CHAP.

career both at home and abroad — with the fact of his ; — •

having now become the most noble prince in Christen- Stratford.
dom. Of himself he said nothing : the people knew well
who was the king's counsellor, when he extricated himself
from unparalleled difficulties, and through his own genius,
properly directed, was elevated to a pinnacle of glory.
He counselled the king to call a parliament. He
offered before a full parliament to vindicate his own
administration, and to prove who were the persons that
squandered the supplies, and reduced the king to poverty
and disgrace — the men who now endeavoured to shift
the blame upon the archbishop by whom they were
excommunicated. He entreated the king not to distrust
his people, but to call a parliament — which his present
advisers most dreaded — and he concludes, " May the
Holy Spirit have you, my Lord, in His holy keeping as
to soul and body. May He grant you grace to hear and
receive good advice, and vouchsafe you victory over all
your enemies."

The great seal had now been for the first time con
signed to a layman. The layman selected to be chan
cellor was not a lawyer, but a soldier. As the great seal
had hitherto been always entrusted to an ecclesiastic, civil
affairs had been so mixed up with spiritual, that, great as
were Sir Robert Bourchier's ability and valour in the field
of battle and at the tournament, things were likely, in the
Court of Chancery, to be brought into a state of confusion ;
for an extrication from which the gallant chancellor did
not possess sufficient knowledge and skill. He evinced a
disposition to deal unfairly, in all that related to Church
matters and ecclesiastics. To him, therefore, the arch
bishop wrote, " wishing him a will to conserve the
liberties of the Church and the law of the land entire."
He made a full statement of the financial arrangements of

44 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the Court of Chancery. In this statement, the subsidies of
' — ^r— ' the clergy were compared with the parliamentary grants.
Stratford. He entreated the chancellor, to deal fairly by the clergy,

an(j ^^ reference to some unjust orders that he had
given, he called him to revoke them within eight days of
his receiving the mandate to do so, and threatened him,
in case of disobedience, with such measures of reprisal
as the Church still possessed. He, throughout, assumed
that, whatever acts of injustice were committed by the
chancellor, were done without the knowledge of the
king.

But, in order that the king might not remain in ignor
ance of what his new ministers were doing in his nam 3
and by his authority, Stratford, at the same time, addressed
a remonstrance to the king in council. In defiance of
Magna Charta and the laws of the land, ecclesiastics
(some of whom were named, one of them being Henry
Stratford), and many of the laity also, had been dragged
from their homes, and imprisoned, without any specific
crime being laid to their charge. The object was to
compel them to pay a high ransom for their release. It
was one of the iniquitous modes of raising money resorted
to in the worst times of Henry III. He asserted, that
persons armed with authority from the government had
entered the houses of ecclesiastics with impunity, and
taken their property, pretending it to be for the king's use.
He solemnly called upon the king, who had, up to this
time, acted constitutionally, to command the release and
delivery out of prison of those ecclesiastics, and of others
who were detained against Magna Charta and the laws of
the land. He gave notice that, if a remedy were not
devised, to prevent the recurrence of these acts of tyranny,
the censures of the Church should be immediately put
forth against all, except the king, his lady the queen, and
their children.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 45

In a circular, addressed to the Bishop of London and
his suffragans, the archbishop enters more into particulars
— he speaks of false accusations as well as imprisonments, stmtford.
and alludes to the insecurity of all property. He specifies 1333-48-
the various laws which, besides Magna Charta, had been
violated, and calls upon his brethren to unite with him
in maintaining the cause of justice, and in enforcing the
observance of the laws of the land.

So powerful was the effect of the energetic measures
adopted by the archbishop, that the ministry found it
necessary also to appeal to the people, by the publication
of what Stratford called an infamous libel, a document
known in history as the Famosus Libellus.* It is a
remarkably clever production, and was acknowledged
generally to be the work of the ministry and not of the
king himself, although he, of course, assented to the publi
cation. This letter, written in the king's name, refers first
to the confidence, which the king, at the commencement of
his reign, while yet in his tender years, had put in John,
then Bishop of Winchester, now Archbishop of Canter
bury ; who was received into such familiarity, and enjoyed
so much of the royal favour, that lie was called " our
father," and next to the king was admired of all men.
He is accused of having advised the war with France,
and the league with the German princes ; of having
promised that, if the king would discipline the army,
he would be responsible for the means of defraying
the expenses of the war. On the strength of these pro
mises the war was undertaken, great expenses incurred,
the princes subsidised. But alas ! — the king is made to
say, — we put our confidence in the staff of a broken reed,

* Auditis itaque litteris Ai'chiepiscopi, et singulis intellects, aliis
insuper nommllis ah aulicis regiis, ut putabatur, Archiepiscopo imposi-
tis, liex Edwardus misit episcopo Londoniarum littcram ut subsequi-
tur. — Walsingham, i. 2 1<>.

46 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, whereon, according to the prophet, if a man lean, it shall
_^' _^ go into his hand and pierce it. Defrauded of his pro-
stmtford ntised aid from the archbishop, the king contracted debts
1333-48. at heavy interest from the mere necessity of carrying on
the war; until, at length, from the misconduct of the
archbishop, the king, being still in want of funds, was
obliged to suspend his operations and throw himself on
the generosity of the prelates, barons, and other liege
subjects of his kingdom in parliament assembled. From
them he received a ninth of their corn, lambs, and wool ;
and obtained besides, a tenth from the clergy. If th s
had been faithfully collected it would have sufficed ;
and the archbishop promised not only to attend to tliis
duty, but to procure money from other sources. Thus
encouraged, the king renewed the war, and gained a great
naval victory over enemies, who had combined for th<3
destruction of the king and the English nation. He
then encamped against the strong city of Tournay, ami
expected the promised supplies, but they never came
though messenger after messenger was sent to demanc
payment from the archbishop and the other counsellors
joined with him in the commission. These ministers
were attending to their own interests, neglecting the
king's affairs, and palliated their idleness, not to say fraud
and malice, with painted glossings and frivolous excuses.
At the point of success, the king was obliged to raise
the siege ; and, retiring to Flanders, was exposed to
disgrace by being unable to fulfil his engagements or
pay ofF his foreign auxiliaries, except by contracting
fresh debts at usurious interest. On the king's con
sulting the companions of his labours, the sharers of
his troubles, they all agreed that the whole fault lay
in the misgovernment of the archbishop, and the other
members of the commission. These persons were sus
pected also of bribery, of corruption, oppression, and

AKCIIBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 47

other heinous offences. The document then proceeds to CHAP.
mention the various steps taken by the king, to effect a * — ^ — -
change in the ministry. He was obliged to imprison Stratford.
many of those, who had been in office, lest, if at liberty, 1333~48-
they should impede the investigation into the iniquities
of the late government. It recites the various summonses
by which the archbishop was required to appear before
the king, to render an account of his stewardship ; and
the insolence and haughtiness, with which he refused " to
appear before us or to confer with us unless in our own
full parliament, which, at this time, for good reason it is
not expedient to call. Thus the archbishop, whom our
royal favour aggrandised not only with benefices and
honours, but by admission to our friendship — who was
to us as our mouth and lip, on whom as on a much-loved
father we relied, and who pretended to be a loving-
father to us, has proved after all to be nothing better
than a step-father, who, forgetful of the favours he has
received from us, meets his benefactor with arrogance
and pride and has served us, as the proverb has it, —
'A mouse in your bag, a serpent in your lap, a fire in your
bosom.' r

There is more to the same effect : and the archbishop is
accused of calumniating the king and his counsellors, by
whom he represents the laity to be oppressed and the clergy
wronged ; of simulating a zeal for Magna Charta and the
laws, that he might bring discredit on the government ;
and of feigning a zeal for the Church, which all the world
knew was damaged by his remissness and neglect of duty.
He is further accused of availing himself of the king's
easy disposition, on his first coming to the throne, to en
rich himself and his friends ; of peculation, and of accept
ing bribes.

The Bishop of London, to whom the letter was addressed,
was commanded to publish, or cause to be published, all

48 LIVES OP THE

CHAP, and singular the premises, openly and distinctly in places

^^ - which he might think convenient.

Stratford. All this is deeply interesting to persons who, observing
a 3 33-48. faQ current of history, are here led to see the deference,
which, at this period, the ruling powers were beginning to
show, in this country, to public opinion.

The archbishop was not slow to repel the attack, in a
letter to his dread lord the king ; to whom John, by divine
permission, his humble minister of the Church of Canter
bury, once temporally, but now more in the Lord, wishe 1
health both of soul and body, and grace to persevere i i
what was right, while manfully resisting all envious and
wicked suggestions subversive of sound morality.

He commences with some verbiage on the deference duo
to the spiritual from the civil authorities, — which was out
of date, — and on the respect due to a spiritual father, —
which came with a bad grace from Stratford, negligent as
he had always been of his clerical duties. He proceed*:
to what may be regarded as a complete refutation of the
various allegations of the Famosus Libellus. So far from
shunning the king, he declares it to be the first wish of
his heart once more to see his highness ; to serve him, and
to receive from his royal master an acknowledgment of
the services he had already rendered to the state. His
desire also was to vindicate his conduct before the pre
lates, barons and peers of the realm, from the libellous
aspersions of those, whom the king had taken into his con
fidence, and who, in the king's name, domineered as
tyrants over the land. These persons threatened the
archbishop with death. He was therefore justified in
refusing to place himself in their power. His fear, how
ever, of placing himself in the hands of madmen with
swords in their hands, rendered it the more necessary
that he should notice the letter, or rather the infamous
libel they had thought fit to circulate against him. This

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 49

he was determined to do, not sophistically or by special CHAP.
pleading, but in the simplicity of truth.

To the charge of having advised the war the answer was Stratford,
obvious ; that he happened not to be in the counsels of the
king, when war was declared with France, and that no one
laboured more diligently, than he had done to avert it.
When, however, the war began, he effected a loan for the
king, under certain conditions, through the merchants ;
and, at the same time, obtained large subsidies from the
clergy and people, which, in the opinion of the archbishop
and of all the council, would have sufficed for the whole
war, if the money, received for war purposes, had not been
diverted into other channels. He appealed to the king
himself, to corroborate his assertion, that it was owing to
no fault on the part of the archbishop, that the conditions
had been violated, and the money applied to other pur
poses than that, for which it was originally designed. To
the same authority he appeals, to bear him out in the
statement, that the subsidies did not pass through the
archbishop's hands. If, from want of money, any mis
fortune happened to the king abroad, the blame must
rest, not with the archbishop who bore the burden and
heat of the day in providing the funds, but with those
who persuaded the king to violate his engagements, who
wasted the supplies by their extravagance, and embezzled
the subsidies ; the very persons by whose advice the king
was now acting. When the king's difficulties began,
the archbishop, defraying his own expenses as an am
bassador, went abroad again, to conduct negotiations for
peace. On the failure of these negotiations, lie joined
the king in Flanders. At that time, commiserating the
necessitous condition of the king, he, with other prelates
and barons, entered into grievous obligations for debts,
which had been contracted by the king, without their
advice, at an usurious interest. In this way he succeeded

VOL. IV. E

50 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, in extricating the king from his difficulties, and he cer-
. x- ^ tainly, therefore, did not deserve to be reproached for
Stratford, indolence, ingratitude, or avarice. "And so," says the
1333-48. archbishop, in conclusion, upon the article of impeach
ment, " you did not put your confidence in the staff of a
broken reed, but on a most firm staff, with which you
went like Jacob over Jordan, returning, like him, with
two bands : for your second embarkation for England
was a glorious return."

He reminds the king, that when the ninth was voted to
him, it was, with his own consent and that of his counci ,
assigned, for the first year, to his creditors ; and that such
appropriation of the funds was frequently enjoined in tho
king's own letters. When the siege of Tournay was un
dertaken, it was undertaken without the advice of the
home government ; and when money was demanded fo;*
the prosecution of the siege, money was not sent, simpl}'
because it could not be obtained. The several payments
had been adjusted in full by parliament, by certain termt
and proportions ; and the king was frequently apprised
that nothing further could be obtained, unless he were
himself present. Of the subsidy voted very little of it
was due, and very little, therefore, had been collected
before the king's return. It would now come into the
hands of the present ministry; "and I pray God," says the
archbishop, " that it may hereafter be disposed of to your
honour." He then indignantly repels the charges brought,
by the king's present friends, against the archbishop and
those who were associated with him in the ministry ; ap
pealing to God, and declaring, that they had loyally and
industriously laboured in the king's service and obeyed
his commands, and, according to the vulgar saying,

" Ultra posse viri non vult deus ulla requiri."

He retorts on the king's present advisers, the charges he

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 51

before brought against them as notorious ; accusing them
of violations of Magna Charta, and of acts of tyranny,
which were bringing the king himself into disgrace. He Stratford.

1 QQ*3 J.Q

justifies his refusal, to obey the summons of his enemies to
leave his place of security ; and he shows the inconsistency
of the commands issued in the king's name, by which he
was directed to be in attendance upon the king, and to
surrender himself to the Duke of Brabant at the same
time. He repeats his readiness to attend, whenever a par
liament should be called ; and as to the pretence of his
enemies, who feared to call a parliament because there
was no cause for its convention, he treats it as a mere
pretext of those who hate the light because their deeds
are evil. The archbishop's readiness to defend himself in
parliament shows his confidence, that the country was with
him. As to the charge of ingratitude, and of his having
acted as a mere step-father to the king, he assumes that
the king could not himself have been the author of such
an accusation, as he himself was well aware of its injus
tice. The sin which lay on the archbishop's conscience
was that he had neglected, not only the care and culture
of his own houses and lands, and all that pertained to his
own interests, but also his church and his spiritual chil
dren, that he might serve the king. "In our solicitude to
promote your interests, we have passed many a sleepless
night ; and both in England and beyond the sea, we have
wasted our body — I pray God it may not be to the peril
of our soul — and actually reduced ourself to beggary.
Devoted to the service of you and your realm, we have
forfeited the love of our clergy, and have been obliged
to have recourse to unpopular acts ; whether these be the
actions of a step-father let God be judge. He knoweth,
that to you we have been a kind and loving father ; it has
been to our spiritual children — I say it with grief — that
we have been, for you, such a stepfather. We have been,

E 2

52 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, it is said, a mouse in your bag ; how ? Has it been be-

_ x' _. cause while labouring in your service we fed not on your

stiLtford. goods, but on our own ? We have been as a serpent ; if

1333-48. so? jt has not been by spitting forth venom in your lap,

but by the wisdom, with which we have conducted your

affairs. I have been as a fire ; yes, but not a consuming

fire — a lambent flame, kindled by zeal for your interests,

and employed as a light to your path." Inferring that tl e

king could not have read the letter issued in his nam3,

the archbishop consoles himself with the proverb

" Si culpant alii te me laudare necesse est."

He meets the charge of having calumniated the king,
by his allusion to the violation of the liberties of the
Church and of Magna Charta, which had of late take i
place, by referring to the fact as notorious, and by laying
the blame upon the new ministers.

Alluding briefly to the charge of peculation, he con
cludes thus : " One thing we cannot pass by ; although that
such a charge should be brought against us fills us with
surprise — namely, that we have appropriated to our own
use, or to that of our friends, the rents and revenues
of the king. God in heaven knows how utterly withou ,
foundation this charge is. On the contrary, in the king's
affairs, or the affairs of his father or his grandfather, we have
crossed the sea thirty-two times, besides going to and frc
for Scotland ; and in these and other public employment*
we have paid our own expenses, to the gradual deterio
ration of our fortune. From the beginning of the wai
to the present hour, we have received nothing from the
exchequer, except three hundred pounds ;"-— the income
of the then chancellor, Sir Eobert Bourchier, being £500
a year.

" And then, as for preferring undeserving persons and
placing them in office from pecuniary considerations, if

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 53

any one will offer to prove, that I ever received any sum CHAP.
of money, any gratuity or favour on this score, or any — -
bribe to favour any plaintiff or defendant, I am ready at Stratford.
once to meet him, if the king will order me to be pro- 133i
secuted. Nay, more, if we might with a good conscience
reveal the secrets of the king's council, I could indeed
retort the charge on some, who stand forward as my
calumniators."

The publication of the libel he regretted for the king's
sake, rather than his own. So far as he was himself con
cerned, although it was designed to damage him, he felt
sure, that when weighed in a just scrutiny, it would
only tend to bring disgrace upon those by whom it was
dictated.

That the statements made by the archbishop were
strictly true is established by the fact, that there was not
an attempt to refute them in the angry rejoinder, which
was published in the king's name, and was probably
written by himself.

Therein the archbishop is accused of arrogance and pride,
of which the letter he had published was a further proof:
"It had hitherto been the custom of prelates, even of popes,
to interpret the discourses of princes in a fair and favour
able sense ; but this archbishop had dared to call the
king's letter a libel, though it contains nothing but truth,
and what we shall make good from point to point when we
see Jit."

It is said, that a cautious controversialist admits nothing,
because whatever he admits will be exaggerated as to its
importance and be urged against him. Stratford had not
observed this rule. " This prelate," it was therefore said,
''lays great stress upon his exalted station, and calling him
self an ambassador of Christ, demands that reverence and
respect, which being due from him to us he refuses to pay.
Although he and the other prelates of the realm, who hold

54 LIVES OF THE

their temporalities of us, are bound by their oath of
allegiance, to acknowledge our sovereignty, and to render
to us the obedience of subjects ; this prelate, instead of
giving honour where honour is due, treats us not only
with disrespect but with contempt. Although we have
always been disposed to pay due regard to our spiritual
fathers, yet their misconduct we cannot and will not pass
over, when it tends to the detriment of our person and
government." The letter then repeats, that the arch
bishop has been guilty of the same offences, which he;
charges upon others, and concludes with saying that the
king cannot condescend to enter into a controversy with
a subject. He will not, therefore, expose the fallacies of
the archbishop's defence, as he might easily do, if dis
posed. He will not allow any encroachment upon the
royal prerogative, which the late ecclesiastical censures
were, and he commands the sentence of excommunication
to be cancelled.

The archbishop still refused to place himself on trial,
except before his peers in parliament ; and the country
was with him. The new ministers desired to govern by
the prerogative ; but the good sense of the king gradually
regained its ascendency over his passion, and a parliament
was called, according to Birchington, for the 17th of
April, 1341.

A summons was issued to the archbishop, accom
panied by a safe-conduct. He was determined not to
travel as a criminal. He proceeded leisurely, through
his various manors, arriving at Lambeth on St. George's
day, the 23rd of April, the first day on which parliament
met for the despatch of business. On the morrow, he
crossed the river, and, accompanied by the Bishops of
London and Chichester, with a great number of the clergy
and knights, escorted by an armed force, as if expecting
violence, he presented himself at the great door of West-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 55

minster hall. The wisdom of the precautionary measures CHAP.
he had adopted was seen in the fact, that, at the door of ^ — ,_*
Westminster Hall, armed men were drawn up to prevent Stratford.
his entrance. They were under the command of Ealph, 1333-48-
Baron of Stafford, and the Lord John Darcy, the first being
seneschal of the royal hospital, and the second the king's
chamberlain. They informed him, that their orders were
to prevent him from entering parliament, until he had
first made answer, in the king's exchequer, to certain
charges, which had been brought against him. The
archbishop replied, that he had come, in the discharge of
his duty, which was to attend the king's parliament with
the other peers of the realm. But, to avoid giving offence
and to act in accordance with the king's command, he
ordered his attendants to proceed to the Court of Ex
chequer. The articles of impeachment had been duly
prepared, and were laid before him. He required time to
deliberate upon his answer, and time was granted.

He now returned to Westminster Hall and entered the
Painted Chamber. The officials were not prepared to re
ceive him, supposing that lie would be detained at the
Exchequer. But seats were now assigned to him, and to
the Bishops of London, Chichester, Coventry and Lich-
field, and St. David's. So entirely was the hostile party
taken by surprise, that no one, except the bishops, were
present. To them, therefore, the archbishop addressed
himself, and stated his reasons for attending parliament,
which were, that he might defend the honour and liber
ties of the Church of England, and devise measures for
the advantage of the kingdom and people, for the honour
of the king and the good of the queen ; and also, that he
might clear himself in full parliament, from the crimes
which had been laid against him and published. As he
had been summoned to parliament by a mandate of the
king, he had, as in duty bound, obeyed. The chancellor,

56 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, upon whom the duty of opening parliament properly

^ . devolved, now made his appearance, but only to prorogue,

Stratford, or, as we should now say, adjourn the parliament till the

1333-4f. morrow<

On St. Mark's day, the 25th of April, the archbishop,
with the bishops, who seem to have acted as his council,
took his seat again in the Painted Chamber ; but the king,
probably from a reluctance to meet his old friend under
present circumstances, did not make his appearance, and
no business was transacted. On the Thursday following,
the archbishop appeared in the Court of Exchequer ; but;
he had evidently so interfered with the designs of hi*
enemies, that they had not arranged their plans, and the
proceedings were merely formal. On the Friday follow
ing, he repaired again to Westminster Hall, but without
an armed retinue. The opponents of the archbishop had
now determined upon their course. At the door of the
great hall stood the Lords John Darcy, Egidius de la
Campo or Beauchamp, and Ealph de Neville. They re
fused him admittance, until he had answered the charges
brought against him in the Court of Exchequer, to which
place they directed him to go. The archbishop replied,
that he had been summoned to parliament ; and to his
place in parliament, and not the exchequer he desired, at
this time, to go. The opposing party saw, that resistance
would be useless, and they permitted him to proceed to
the Painted Chamber. He found there the Bishops of
London, Ely, Coventry, Bath, Hereford, Salisbury, and
St. David's. But the king came not. It was evident,
that the influence of the new ministers over the king's
mind was declining. Presently appeared Adam Orlton,
Bishop of Winchester, one of the primate's most bitter
enemies, the chancellor, and John Darcy. The bishop
was the spokesman, and stated, that they appeared in the
king's name, to call upon the archbishop, to become obe-

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. O/

dient to the king, and to humble himself before him ;
adding, that he would find the king gracious. This would
have been to plead guilty to the offences laid to his Stratford,
charge. The archbishop, therefore, replied, that to the
king he had always been obedient, and, saving his order,
was prepared to be so still. The Bishop of Winchester
then said, that he was aware that he was the reputed
author of the Libellus Famosus, which had been so much
talked of ; but he denied, that there was any truth in the
report. The silence of the archbishop implied, that he
gave no credit to the denial. The lords separated.

On Saturday, the 28th of April, the archbishop re
turned again to Westminster. He was now stopped by
two armed men, at the door of the Painted Chamber,
where the king was holding his parliament. The arch
bishop replied, " My friends, I, Archbishop John, have been
summoned to this parliament by a mandate from my lord
the king, and I, who, next to the king, am superior to all,
and have the greatest right to speak, claim the rights of
my Church of Canterbury. I desire, therefore, ingress to
the chamber." The men-at-arms refused to permit him to
pass, and, in fact, acted as sentinels upon him and the
Bishops of London and Chichester, who stood by him on
either side. The archbishop took the cross from his
cross-bearer; and standing with his cross erect, declared
that from that place he should not move until he received
another mandate from the king. He evidently was aware,
that the king's anger was beginning to subside — a suspi
cion, which the conduct of the ministry, if we may so call
them, served to confirm.

While the primate and the bishops, who attended were
waiting, the tread of armed men was heard, and the
archbishop, now unprepared for an assault, felt that his
worst fears would be realised. His fears were still more
excited as he saw that the soldiers were headed by his

58 . LIVES OF THE

CHAP, enemies, Egidius Beauchamp, John Darcy the younger,
_ x" _. and Thomas Muridham ; but the most outrageous on tliis
Stotford occasion was John Darcy the elder. He, as soon as he
1333-48. gaw £he primate, exclaimed, " Holloa ! what are you doing
here ? " " Here I am," replied Stratford, " summoned by
the king to parliament, and here I stand to maintain the
rights of my Church, and here, until I am admitted into
parliament, I shall remain." John Darcy, with a fierce
malignant scowl, replied, " I wish you may stand there for
ever." The archbishop, turning from him, stood with his
cross in his hand, facing the whole party, and said : " Here
is my body, prepared for the worst — do with it as you
will ; to my Creator I commend my soul." " No, no," inter
rupted Darcy, with a sardonic smile on his countenance ;
" of that thou art not worthy, and we are not such fools.
All that we say is, that here thou art in defiance of thy
liege lord." To whom the archbishop : " In obedience to
my lord the king, I, in all humility, have come ; and my
cross in my hand I carry, to show that here I am novr
prepared, for the rights of my Church, to die." " Of the
cross that thou bearest," retorted Darcy, "thou art un
worthy — unworthy, therefore, to enter parliament : always
a malefactor hast thou been, and thou hast acted as i,
traitor to thy king ; and that man who dares to say that
our lord the king is not led by wiser counsel, than he was
by thee, I tell him that he lies in his teeth ; and this,
since thy person is sacred, I am ready to prove on the
body of any other wretch who dares to say it." Then
Egidius let loose his tongue : " In an evil hour wast thou
born, thou thing accursed ; thou who didst frustrate, and
hast frustrated all along, the measures devised against
France by a prince, than whom a nobler prince in the
world cannot be found." The archbishop now drew
himself up, and said, with solemnity, " The curse of God
and of the blessed Mary, the curse of St. Thomas and my

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 59

own curse, be on the heads of all those, who shall have
thus frustrated the king, now and for ever. Amen." By
thus pronouncing those accursed, who had acted as Egi- Stratford,
dius accused the archbishop of having acted towards the
king, it was felt that he contradicted, in terms the most
solemn, the statement of Egidius ; for both he and Darcy
exclaimed, " On thine own head this curse falls." The
archbishop, who seems throughout to have preserved his
temper, merely remarked, "John, for thy opprobrious
words I do not care." A crowd had now gathered round,
and the people being indignant at the treatment of the
archbishop, the armed force retired.

At length, the Earls of Northampton and Salisbury
came out of the Painted Chamber to confer with the
archbishop, who requested them to interpose their good
offices between himself and the king ; entreating him to
respect the rights of the Church of Canterbury, as repre
sented by its archbishop. The earls having taken upon
themselves, probably with the king's permission previously
obtained, the office of mediation, the archbishop delivered
his cross to be carried by the Bishop of Ely, and, with
jjhe prelates associated with him, he retired to the little hall
at Westminster, where they waited a considerable time.
It was unusual for the archbishop to carry his own cross,
which was only done when he wished to imply, that his
very life was in danger ; the fact, therefore, of his resign
ing it to the hands of another was a sign of amity. But
it does not appear that he and his friends were admitted
to parliament on this day ; it was only notified to the
archbishop that the earls had so far succeeded, that the
king had left it to the parliament to determine the terms,
upon which Archbishop John was to be restored to the
favour of King Edward. The king withdrew when the
discussion commenced, in order that there might be no
restraint upon those who were inclined to take part in the

60 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, debate. The debate was warm and protracted, chiefly

v ^ . through the management of the archbishop's enemy,

Stratford Adam Orlton, Bishop of Winchester, who was so unscru-

1333-48. puious in his statements, that, in one instance, he wras

proved to be guilty of a direct falsehood. The disputes

ran so high, that nothing was settled at this time ; but the

members separated with feelings of much exasperation.

The archbishop had retired to Lambeth, where he
remained in retirement on the Sunday. His enemies,
however, were active and at work. The majority in par
liament were in favour of the archbishop ; and the king
was beginning to think less unkindly of his old servant.
Stratford had always been popular among the middle
classes. To damage him in the eyes of the country was,
therefore, the next thing to be attempted; and the attempt
was made by John Darcy and William Killesby. They
sought an interview with the citizens of London ; and the
mayor, with some of the aldermen and council, met them
on the Sunday at the Chapter House of Westminster. In
order, that they might inflame the minds of the Londoners
against the primate, certain articles were fabricated againsi,
him, which were to be published and circulated.

The articles of impeachment, for as such they may be
regarded, were based upon the statements in the Libellue
Famosus, and the archbishop met them as openly as
before. On the first of May, he came down early to the
house, and there declared his readiness to clear himself,
in full parliament, from all the articles laid against him
from any quarter. He demanded to be arraigned before
his peers, a right which Magna Charta conferred ; and
which had been violated by the present ministry in their
endeavour to have the archbishop tried in the Court of
Exchequer.

The general question was now opened, whether, when
a peer was impeached by the crown, for high crimes and

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 01

misdemeanours, he could be compelled to plead before CHAP.
any other tribunal than the House of Peers ; and a com- — -^ — •

i J r John

mittee, consisting of four prelates, tour earls, and tour stratford.
barons, was appointed to report on this subject, and, at the
same time, to enquire concerning the causes laid to the
charge of the archbishop.

The archbishop appeared in his place again on Wed
nesday, prepared to explain his conduct ; but when he
began to speak, the counsellors of the king, or the minis
try, interrupted him, and caused so much disturbance and
confusion, that the house adjourned, without coming to
any definite conclusion. But this conduct evidently dis
gusted the king, who, probably, was beginning to feel the
want of those wise counsels, on which he had hitherto
relied. The late controversy had answered its object, in
diverting the public attention from the king's own mis
conduct ; he found that the time had not come, when the
government of the country could be confided exclusively
to lay hands ; and if his impulsive nature hurried him
frequently into wrong actions, he was equally ready to
retrace his steps. The large majority of the parliament
were with the archbishop ; and he who had certainly
conducted himself, under very trying circumstances, with
much temper, discretion, dignity, and skill, was not
anxious to drive things to an extremity. Instead of
insisting upon a verdict in his favour, which could only
be done by revelations with reference to the royal con
duct, to which the king would not submit, and no friend
of the king would urge, he acceded to a compromise
which tended, in the event, to his greater honour. I
assume that there was a compromise, because, in the
transactions about to be mentioned, some of the arch
bishop's most bitter enemies took part — and against them
he never instituted proceedings — there was an under
standing that bygones were to be bygones.

62 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. At all events, on the 3rd of May the archbishop

s_ *' -, crossed from Lambeth to Westminster, his cross borne

Stea°t&rd. before him ; and in a full parliament, without any gain-

1333-48. saying? he took his place as the first peer of the realm.

At the proper time, the doors of the Painted Chamber

opened, and the king entering took his seat upon the

throne.

The whole parliament rose, and when the king was
seated, stood before the throne — the lords spiritual ar d
temporal, the knights of the shires, the burgesses of the
towns. They were understood to be interceding with tl e
king for the primate. The king, before a word wus
spoken, signified, that he admitted him to his grace, and
held him free from all the crimes alleged against him
from every quarter.

It was a proud day for Stratford ; but he manifested no
signs of triumph. He quietly received as a favour, what,
from anything we can discover, he might have claimed as
a right.

He remained at his manor-house at Lambeth for JL
few days, when a message reached him from the king,
to the effect, that he was replaced on the privy council.
At the council-board the two friends met, and their
friendship continued till the death of the archbishop.

Stratford was not unmindful of the reproaches of his
conscience during his late trials, and was determined to
fulfil his vows of attending to his duty as a prelate. He
held a council in London on the 10th of October, 1342,*
and another in March, 1343.f At each of these councils
certain constitutions were established. Those of the first
council were published as the Extravagants of John, Arch
bishop of Canterbury ; the term being used to distinguish
the canons of the first council from those of the second,

* "VVilkins, Cone. ii. 696 ; Spelman, ii. 572.
f Wilkins, ii. 702 ; Spelman, ii. 581.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 63

which are called Constitutions, only a few months inter- CHAR
vening between the two. > J- —

T "U

The practical character of Stratford's mind, as well as str°tfm-<i.
his caution, is impressed on the legislative enactments of 1333~48-
either synod. The canons are little more than a repe
tition or a confirmation of constitutions made by his
predecessors, or of canons passed in former councils.
Nevertheless, there are some matters interesting to the
archaeological student as well as to the reader of history.

For example, the archbishop found that, to the detri
ment of the parish priest, but for the convenience of the
parishioners, certain of the clergy accepted a remunera
tion for performing the sacred offices of the Church in
unconsecrated places without a license. It was ordered
that, without the license of the bishop, no such irregularity
should be permitted ; and the bishop was required only
to license the oratories of nobles and great men who were
surrounded by large households or retainers, and whose
residence might be more than one mile from the parish
church.*

The clerks of archdeacons and their officials were
found to charge exorbitantly and ad libitum, for the
transcription of official documents. They were limited
to a charge of twelve pence for writing letters of request,
institution or collation ; and sixpence for letters of orders.
The marshals, or keepers of bishops' palaces, were pro
hibited from taking fees ; so were the janitors and the
episcopal barbers. The barbers might, indeed, have
expected some remuneration ; for they were, at this time,
exposed to much trouble, it being their business to
ascertain, before a clergyman waited upon his bishop,
that the cut of his hair was precisely canonical.f

A regulation on this point was the more necessary, as
we find the Church legislating upon the subject. In the

* Extravagant, i. f Ibid. ii.

64 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, second constitution of the second council held by Stratford,
v_^_ we have the description of a clerical fop of the fourteenth
Stratford, century. It is stated that the prevailing excesses of the
1333-48. ciergy as to tonsure, garments, and trappings, gave abomi
nable scandal to the people. Men, it was said, holding
dignities, parsonages, prebends, benefices with cure of
souls, thought scorn of the tonsure, — which is described as
a mark of perfection and of the kingdom of heaven ; — a; id
that they distinguish themselves with hair hanging down
their shoulders in an effeminate manner ; it is affirmed
that they loved to apparel themselves like soldiers rather
than clerics, with an upper jump remarkably short and
wide ; that they affected long hanging sleeves not covering
the elbows ; that they had their hair curled and powdered ;
that they wore caps with tippets of a wonderful length ;
that they had rings on their fingers other than those of
office; that they had long beards; that they were gi*t
with costly girdles, to which were attached purses enamel
led with figures and sculptured ; that they had knives
hanging at their sides to look like swords ; that their
shoes were chequered with red and green, exceedingly-
long, and variously pinked ; moreover, that they ha 1
cruppers to their saddles, and baubles like horns hanging
down from the necks of their horses ; that their cloaks
were furred on the edge, contrary to the canonical
sanctions.

These things vexed the righteous soul of Archbishop
John, and it was enacted that all who offended in this
way, should be, at the end of six months from the time;
of admonition, suspended, unless he repented in the;
interim.

Archdeacons and their officials were, at this time, ver}
misconducted. They would often require an immoderate
sum of money before they would induct a clerk already
instituted or collated. It was therefore ordered that the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 65

fee to an archdeacon for induction should be forty pence ; CHAP.
or, if the induction was .performed by his official, the fee, ^ — ^ — •
including ah1 charges for his attendants, was fixed at two Stratford,
shillings, and, as money was scarce, it was left to the
option of the person inducted whether the procuration
should be paid in coin or in a supply of the necessaries
of life. Some archdeacons and other superior ordinaries
gaping after gain, it is said, indulged themselves in hunt
ing and other affectations of grandeur, when making the
circuit of their visitations. They would leave the actual
work of the visitation to a deputy; and though they saw
not, themselves, the inside of the church, they insisted on
their procurations ; nay, they sometimes demanded the pay
ment of them although the visitation was entirely omitted,
being performed neither in person nor yet by deputy.
They would, sometimes, contrive to arrive at a parsonage,
the day before that fixed for the visitation, so as to tax
the parson with another day's keep, not only of themselves
but of their retinue, including the hounds ; and then, on
the morrow, when demanding the procurations, permit no
deduction to be made. They had, in every deanery, their
riding apparitors, and these had their foot apparitors, and
these were attended by garcons — servants of bad character
— ready for any mischief, who forced themselves for a
maintenance, on the rectors and vicars, remaining often an
unreasonable time. These persons would look out for
grounds for molesting the clergy, from doing which they
could only be restrained by their being permitted to appro
priate the lambs, or the wool, or the sheaves, as the case
might be, which they had selected from the field or the fold.
It was therefore enacted, that a bishop should have only
one riding apparitor ; and that an archdeacon should be
contented with a foot apparitor, who might stay with a
rector or vicar only one night and one day once a quarter,
unless invited to stay longer. The archdeacons were too
VOL. TV. F

66 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, apt when men relapsed into adultery, fornication, or other

_J^ . notorious offences, to remit that corporal penance, which

Stratford, ought to be inflicted upon them, for a terror to others, for
1333-48. t}ie gake Of money9 so that they were called by some
the lessors of sin. Therefore commutation of corporal
penance was entirely forbidden, when the offender had
relapsed more than twice ; and whenever a money fine was
imposed, it was not to go into the archdeacon's purse, b it
was to be applied to the fabric of the cathedral church.
The archdeacons also exacted excessive sums of money
from the clergy licensed to officiate in the archdeaconries,
for inserting their names in the Matricula, as the list of
the clergy in an archdeaconry wras termed. Therefore
they were forbidden, to receive, for such insertion, more
than one penny.* The parishioners were, at this tim-3,
bound to repair the body and the roof of the parish
church, within and without, together with the steeple, the
altars, the images, the glass windows, and the fences of
the churchyard. Complaint was made, that when a living
was appropriated to a monastery, the monks, though large
landowners and holders of the great tithes, refused to pay
their share of the burden, or to contribute towards tha.
charities of the parish. It was enacted, that henceforti
the monks should be compelled, to give alms, in every
parish in which they possessed property, at the discretion
of the bishop.f

Complaints were made of persons leaving their parish
church, and going to some distant church for marriage ; and
that marriages were often solemnised when no banns had
been previously asked. Eegulations were made to remedy
this evil.J

At funerals, misconduct wras frequent and great. Ii
had long been the custom of the faithful, to observe night

* Extrav. ii., vii., ix., x., xii.

f Extrav. iv., v. } Extrav. xi.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 67

watches, in behalf of the dead, before their burial; and CHAP.

to do so, sometimes, in private houses, to the intent, that , ^_

the faithful then meeting together and watching, might Stl^rtL
devoutly intercede with God. But, by the arts of Satan, 1333-48.
this wholesome practice of the ancients was turned into
buffoonery and filthy revels. Prayers were neglected,
and watchings became the rendezvous for adulteries, for
nications, thefts, and other misdoings. Stratford observed,
that when a probable good becomes an experienced evil,
then an alteration is aUowable. These wakes were, ac
cordingly, forbidden.

Thus did the archbishop endeavour to perform his
vows ; but, when the stings of conscience were less acutely
felt, and the external pressure was withdrawn, the old
statesman returned to political life, with all his former
zest.

The king found, by experience, that a more able and
upright minister he could not obtain. In the year 1343,
he commanded, that the articles drawn up against the
Archbishop of Canterbury should be brought to the House
of Lords to be declared insignificant, and to be annulled.
The reason assigned for this order was that the said arti
cles were neither reasonable nor true.* No higher testi
mony could be borne to the integrity of the primate.

When the king went abroad, in the July of 1345, he
left his young son Lionel nominally the regent; but, at
the head of the council, which was to direct the affairs of
the nation, he placed the archbishop. The same office
was assigned to him in the year 1346, one of the most
eventful in the history of England.

We may say, indeed, of Stratford — employing a modern
term in a qualified sense — that he was, till the hour of his
death, the prime minister of Edward III. ; at all events,
he was the chief adviser of the crown. His success in
* Foedera, ii. 1141, 1143, 1147, 1154.
F 2

68 LIVES OF THE

obtaining subsidies, both from parliament and from cori-
vocation, was great ; and his ability as a finance minister
must have been considerable. He was, indeed, favoured
ky circumstances ; for plunder on a large scale, both public
and private, was regarded as a right of war, and high
prices were paid for the ransom of prisoners. But it must
have required no ordinary skill, to bring back the finances
to order, after the reckless prodigality of the king, and
the worse than negligence of the late ministry. The cur
rency question did not escape his attention ; a new coinage
was instituted, and a gold coin was put into circulation,
the florin, which represented the value of ten shillings.

During this period, several important constitutional
measures were adopted.

The system of papal provisions had for some time excited
angry passions in England ; and even in the reign of
Henry III. had been so far restricted, that the pope had
pledged himself not to interfere with the rights of private
patronage. The system of provisions had been introduced
originally on a reasonable plea ; that of preventing the
patrons of ecclesiastical livings from keeping them long
vacant, and converting the revenues to their private use.
This was important in an age of violence ; and, no doubt,
it prevented, at one time, a simoniacal traffic in benefices.
But it was not long before the system, however honestly de
signed at first, was abused by a succession of unscrupulous
pontiffs, who were gradually, by these means, converting to
their own use the patronage of some of the best preferments
in the various churches of Europe. The plan was, when
a valuable piece of preferment was likely to be void, for
the pope, having notice of it through one of his agents, to
declare that, before the vacancy, he, to the utter disregard
of all other rights, had provided an incumbent. Kings and
clergy had often remonstrated against this proceeding.
But, by the insincerity of the kings, the remonstrances

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 69

produced but little effect. Kings would withdraw their CHAP.

opposition, when popes were prepared to provide for the • ; — -

royal favourite, in opposition to a recalcitrant chapter. Stratford.
The laity, in general, had been little interested in the 1333~48-
controversy, and the clergy had been left to fight the
battle by themselves, overawed by the pope, unprotected
by the king.*

But the time had now come, when the earls and barons
found it necessary to make common cause with the clergy,
against this usurpation of the see of Home. The successor
of the conscientious Benedict XII. was a Frenchman,
devoted to French interests, and surrounded by French
cardinals — Clement VI. He was voluptuous and expen
sive ; his court was conducted on the most splendid scale
of magnificence, and as scandal whispered, or more than
whispered, it displayed, in its decorations and arrange
ments, the influence of female taste. It was certainly
known that, in all that related to the patronage of the
papal court, the interest, which prevailed was that of the
Viscountess of Turenne, and that her interest could only be
secured after some transactions had privately taken place
between her treasurer and the aspirant to certain vendible
preferments, f

All this might have been tolerated, if money had not
been required to meet the expenses of the court, beyond
what the Viscountess of Turenne was able or willing to

supply. A mine of wealth seemed to be opened through
those abuses, of which complaint had been often made —
the papal provisions and reservations. Benedict XII. had
piously abstained from enriching his family or rewarding
his dependents through this source. His successor had
no such scruples. Never was the abuse in this respect

* Butler's Hist, of English Catholics, i. 35. Kcnne.t's Hist. Eng
land, 220.

f Matteo Villani.

70 LIVES OP THE

carried to a greater extent than at the present time. The
indignation of the English people was excited to the
Stratford, highest pitch, when, having introduced foreigners, often the
1333-48. mere servants of French cardinals, into English benefices ;
or requiring the profits to be paid to them ; Clement availed
himself of the proclamation of a jubilee, to declare a pro
vision for two of his cardinals upon the next vacant bene
fice — not a bishopric or abbey (he wished to avoid a
collision with the crown) — to the value of a thousand
marks a year.

We are not to suppose, that this proceeding was re
garded with the feelings with which a similar transaction
would be regarded now. At that time, the cure of sou's
was not necessarily connected, in the public mind, with
the profits of a benefice. The beneficed clergy were nc t
considered as persons paid for duty done, but rather as
the possessors of property to which certain duties at
tached. The ecclesiastic held certain property in land. As
the lay lord, in return for his landed possessions, rendered
services to the king ; so the ecclesiastic was, as the condi
tion of his holding certain estates, to make provision fo '
the performance of certain duties in the parish church.
So long as the duty was done, it mattered not who wa:}
the doer of it, the principal or his deputy.

It did not appear, therefore, monstrous, in itself, tha-i
the pope should act on the same principle as the king
He only said, "You have patronage in the Church ol'
England — you use it to remunerate your servants ; and ]
have acquired patronage in the Church of England, why
should not I, in the same manner, make provision for my
servants ? "

The argument was not easily answered, — though pre
ceding popes had sometimes met with a sturdy resistance,
both in the acquisition and in the exercise of their pa
tronage, — until now, whei^ a Frenchman was pope, with a

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 71

court at Avignon instead of Borne, a creature of the King CHAP.
of France, who was supposed to be usurping the throne » — ^ — *
of the King of England. It was characteristic of the Stratford.
nascent English mind, not to contend against an anomaly 1333-48-
so long as it was only in speculation ; but to rise up, at
once, in indignation, when the grievance became practical.

The residence of the popes at Avignon, and their sub
servience to the French crown, created in English poli
tics an anti-papal spirit, which tended even more than
any religious feeling to the great change effected in our
Church at the Eeforniation ; and one of the arguments
sought out to maintain their cause by English statesmen,
— the importance of having beneficed clergy who would
perform the duties themselves, — had an influence upon
the public mind beyond what was first intended.

The difficulty of distinguishing between the political
and the spiritual character of the pope had already been
surmounted in Italy.

What was the feeling in England on the subject is thus
stated by a contemporary writer : " It is to be noted that
the pope may often err against justice, and may excom
municate the true part, and give his benediction to the
false part. He may grant indulgence to those who are
fighting on the false side ; and then God will give His
benediction to the true part, and the acts of the pope will
not hurt it." *

* John of Bricllington, Pol. Songs, i. 1C5. Who the real John of
Bricllington was is not known. He assigns various reasons for con
cealing his name, and his fear, as a young man, of provoking the anger
of his elders, and of the aristocracy. He does not mention any fear of
giving offence to the clergy, whose sentiments he generally expressed.
The notion, that the bishops, at this period, sided with the pope can
only have suggested itself to minds ignorant of the state of public feeling
in England in the fourteenth century, and judging every thing according
to modern and merely protestant ideas. It were more correct to say
that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries statesmen and lawyers
usurped the preferments of the Church, than that ambitious churchmen

72 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The government of England assumed a firm attitude,

.— ^' -^ and the pope himself attributed it to the influence and

Stratford, advice of Stratford. A remonstrance was addressed to the

1333-48. p0pe m courteous, almost adulatory, terms by the princes,

earls, barons, knights, citizens, burgesses, and all the

commonalty of England, which was conveyed to Avignon

by an eminent lawyer, Sir John Shorditch. It alluded

with freedom, to many papal abuses, and expressed the

determination of the nation not to permit any portion of

the national wealth, to be drawn from the country to

enrich foreigners, especially those who were the king's

enemies.

The last point contained the sting, and excited the
anger of the cardinals and the pope, who were conscious
of its truth. Clement, with his usual courtesy, exone
rated Sir John Shorditch from all blame, as being the
bearer, not the author, of the manifesto ; but, referring to
the archbishop, he said he knew who it was who stooc:
opposed to the pope and his proceedings, and that manV
pride he would take good care to humble.

Clement wrote (in the courteous strain of one who was
aware that he did not stand on sure ground) both to the
parliament and the king. He stated his case as it has
been given above. But he received a very spirited reply
from the king, " with devout kissings of his holiness's
feet ; " in which it was plainly stated, that neither the
king nor his people would permit foreigners to hold pre-

intruded on civil and legal offices ; Stratford, for instance, educated as
a lawyer, and because a diplomatist and statesman, receiving the chief
emoluments of his office from holding high preferment in the church, the
duties of which he, to a certain extent, or until he was disgraced at court,
discharged by deputy. Upon the rights of the prelacy the pope was
always encroaching, and against these encroachments they were pre
pared to offer resistance, although when any direct opposition was
offered to the pope they put forward the lay barons, as being in this
respect the more independent.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 73

ferment in England, much less foreigners who, though CHAP.
attached to the papal court, were, avowedly, the king's -- — ^~
enemies. Without perceiving, that he was using a two- Stratford.
edged knife, which cut both ways, the king declaimed on
the evils resulting from the non-residence of the beneficed
clergy, and on the wrong done to the clergy of the Church
of England and the cause of learning, when the patronage
of the Church was misapplied. The king went further ;
and asserted, that any papal patronage in England, was a
usurpation. He maintained, that the right of filling English
sees, and of nominating to English benefices, was vested
in the Crown of England ; on the ground, that to the
kings cathedral churches were indebted for their first
endowments ; and that, from the first planting of Chris
tianity in the land, this was part of the royal prerogative.
The idea of the pope's taking a hostile position to
the king of England ; and then, by an evasion of the
law, abstracting from England the profits of her bene
fices, to be conferred upon her enemies, so rankled in
the public mind, that, in 1346, when Stratford was the
head of the council, and his friend John de UfFord, the
dean of Lincoln — afterwards elected to the see of Canter
bury — was lord chancellor, very stringent measures were
adopted against provisors and aliens. In answer to peti
tions addressed to the council by the commons, it was
enacted, that the profits belonging to foreigners, who had
acquired benefices in England, should be forthwith for
feited to the king ; that all alien monks should avoid the
country ; that any vessel which should bring an alien into
the kingdom should be confiscated ; that no person during
the wars should send money out of the kingdom to the
pope or to any foreign bishop for any duty whatsoever ;
that no Englishman should farm any benefice of any alien
monastery, under pain of perpetual imprisonment ; that no
person should bring into the realm any bull or other

74 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, letters from the court of Borne, or from any alien, with-

_V ' out showing the same to the lord chancellor or the

-j- ,

Stratford, wardens of the Cinque Ports, on penalty of forfeiting all
1333-48. njg possessions.*

This was a boon to the monasteries, as well as to the
clergy and the people. There were priories in England
— alien priories — which, founded by Norman kings, had
been attached to foreign abbeys. These priories were new
occupied by Englishmen ; who, however, had hitherto
been accustomed to pay an annual rent to the foreign
establishment, to which they were affiliated. In mary
instances, this connexion, from this time, permanent y
ceased.

The king was, indeed, nobly supported by all classes of
his subjects. When, in 1344, the truce was broken, the
most liberal grants of money were made to enable him
to conduct the war with success, both by convocation an 1
by parliament.*}1

So good an understanding, indeed, prevailed between
the clergy and the parliament, that the same parliament,
which passed the stringent measures just mentioned
against the pope, passed another act to strengthen the,
hands of the clergy. The statute of Mortmain was so
far modified, that the bishops were empowered to purchase
lands, provided the royal license was first obtained. Cer
tain disputes also, relating to trials for bigamy, and the
rights of appeal, which had arisen between the spiritual
and civil jurisdictions, were settled in favour of the
Church.

* Parliamentary Hist. i. 2G5.

f Collier, iii. 100, remarks that we may observe at this time some
thing of the distinct powers of the two provinces of Canterbury and York.
A triennial disine, or tenth, having been granted to the king by the
clergy, the clergy of the province of Canterbury paid it at the feasts of
Our Lady and of St. Barnabas, while the days of payment for the pro
vince of York were the feasts of St. Luke and the nativity of St. John
the Baptist.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 75

In short, everything proceeded prosperously with the CHAP.
administration of Stratford after his restoration to favour. - — V — '
During his administration, the English arms were crowned stratfora.
with success at Kevin's Cross ; and the news came, the glo
rious news that the battle of Cressy had been fought and
won. The national enthusiasm was excited. Among the
greatest of heroes, England's king was now to take his
place. England had assumed, never again to lose, the
foremost position among European powers ; and it is not,
in this place, an anticlimax to add, the veteran statesman,
who had hitherto directed the counsels of Edward III.,
felt that his work was done, and well done.

Stratford, like all really great men, frequently sighed
for that retirement, of which, however, from the activity
of his mind, he soon became weary. Wearied by busi
ness, lie sought to reinvigorate his soul by retirement ;
and his rein vigora ted soul soon became appetent of work.
The spot on which he sometimes sought his otium, so
fairly won and so wisely used, was his manor of Mayfield,
in Sussex ; the favourite country residence of many of the
primates. Stratford was a man of literary tastes, and en
joyed the society of learned men. Among his friends
were the Doctor Profundus, Thomas Bradwardine, after
wards destined to succeed him, for a short time, in the
primatial see, and the first patron of Bradwardine, Eichard
Bury ; of whose library we possess an interesting account.
Stratford and Eichard Bury had been botli of them canons
residentiary of Chichester, of which important city Thomas
Bradwardine was a native.

The great and important work of Bradwardine, studied
by deep theologians even in the present age, is the " De
Causa Dei ; " and when I saw among the Harleian manu
scripts a work entitled " Commentarius de Deo," attributed
to Stratford, I thought, as others had done, that this was
the work of our archbishop, and that it might contain the

76 LIVES OF THE

result of his conversations with his more learned friend.
But this I find to be the work, not of John, but of
Edward de Stratford.

The only remains we have of Stratford are certain
official documents, and letters to the abbot of St. Augustine.
There is a letter said to be written by the archbishop
among the Bodleian MSS., which I have not examined.

When the archbishop was at Mayfield, thirteen poor
persons would present themselves every morning, and each
would receive, from the archbishop's own hands, a loaf of
bread and thirteen pence in money. At noon, thirteen
other poor persons made their appearance, who dined at his
table, and, at their departure, received, each, a loaf arid
a penny. He had lived too much among his fellow-men,
not to be aware, that a kind word, coming from the kird
heart of a man in an exalted station, appeals to the hea 't
of an inferior, much more powerfully than the most liberal
dole, when held out by the surly hand of one, who can
have compassion on temporal sufferings, but knows not
how to minister, by sympathy, to the mind diseased.
Fragments would be left on his hospitable board, by the
careless recipients of his bounty ; these he would have'
carefully collected, that nothing might be lost, and Ii3
would direct them to be sent, with his benediction, to
those poor persons, who were too infirm to present them
selves at his gate.

Towards the close of life, and especially in 1343, the
archbishop found pleasure in visiting his native place.
There is something refreshing to the mind in the contem
plation of a man immersed in business, throwing off the
trappings of greatness, and conversing freely with the
surviving friends of his youth ; indulging in those tender
sentiments, which the wise man cherishes as a rich inheri
tance from his mother, to whose training he traces all that
is gentle, tender, and affectionate in a manly nature.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. t /

It is pleasant to think of the three old men, John de CHAP.
Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, Eobert de Stratford, . — ^ — .
Bishop of Chichester, both of whom had sat more than Stratford,
once in the marble chair of the chancellor, and their 1333-48-
kinsman Ealph, Bisliop of London, who stood so nobly by
the archbishop in his troubles — it is pleasant to think of
the three old men, walking on the banks of the soft flow
ing Avon, by whose silver streams, in aftertimes, " on
things more than mortal, our Shakspeare would dream ; "
it is pleasant to see them, in the mind's eye, reverting to
the merits of their beloved parents, Eobert and Isabella,
and devising the means to do them honour by benefiting
their fellow-creatures.

Eobert of Stratford, the younger, before he became a
bishop, had been the parson of his native place ; and as,
with his brother, he trod the well-known pathway through
the street to the ford, he would revert with pleasure and
pride to the difficulties he had overcome, and the troubles
he had encountered, to secure the blessing of a good road
to the traveller.*

From the ford they would wander to the church, there
to kneel at the grave of their father, or at the grave of
their mother. Although John's had been the life of a
man of the world, yet he could point to the south aisle of
the church to show that he had not been forgetful of his
duties as a bishop. So long ago as when he was Bishop
of Winchester, he erected the south aisle of the church.
This he assigned to the adjoining chantry to be their
chapel. Of that chantry he was the founder. It con
sisted of four clergymen in priest's orders, whose duty
it was to celebrate divine service to the honour of
Almighty- God, at the altar of St. Thomas, for the good

* Dugdale, 476. — He procured a patent for taking toll for the space
of four years on certain vendible commodities for paving the town.
The patent was twice renewed.

78 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, estate of John cle Stratford and Bobert his brother ; for
* — ^ — that of the father of these brothers, who had been friends
Stratford, through life, Bobert, and Isabella his wife ; for the souls

1333-48. Qf avj t|ie Brothers, sisters, friends, and benefactors of the
founder ; and, as the consent of the king and the diocesan
was necessary, before a chantry was established — for the
souls of the kings of England and the bishops of Worc2s-
tcr.* John de Stratford had purchased the advowson of
the rectory ; for livings were sold then as now. It was
valued at the rate of thirty-five marks, and with this be
endowed the chantry. To this endowment, with his
brother's consent, he now added the paternal estave.
And, to secure a comfortable residence for the clergy,
Balph de Stratford, sympathising with his kinsman, bu It
a house of square stone, at considerable expense, ai d
when stone houses were rare, to the ornament of the
town.f

Some of these proceedings will be, in these days, con
demned as superstitious. But the family affection, tl e
loyalty to church and king, the desire of honouring tl e
dead by benefiting the living, — these are sentiments,
which in every age, and under every change of form, the
religion of a heart not hardened by intolerance an I
bigotry must accept.

Stratford, though still at the head of affairs, happy
under all the circumstances of life, felt, in the early pait
of the year 1348, the coming on of that illness, which Ii3
expected to be his last. As he found himself growing
weaker he made his will, bequeathing his effects to his
servants and domestics ; his cope, his mitre, and his manu
scripts to the cathedral of Canterbury. He bequeathed
benefactions to the convent of Christ Church, w*here the
monks had stood by him in his trial. The residue he left-

* Pat. 10 Edw. III. 2, M. 33.

t Dugdalc, 182.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 79

to his college at Stratford. He then directed, that he CHAP.
should be carried in a litter, to Mayfield, where he affixed - — V — '
his signature to the will. He sank peacefully to his rest. Stratford.
Having devoutly received the sacraments of the Church,
he breathed his last on the 23rd of August, 1348. He
was buried at Canterbury, where his recumbent statue, on
a tomb of alabaster, is still to be seen, with his cross,
his mitre, and other habiliments, carved in marble under
a Gothic canopy.

LIVES OF THE

CHAPTER XL

THOMAS BRADWARDIXE.*

A Native of Chichester. — Prosperous state of Chicliester. — Gilbert de S.
Leofard. — John de Langton. — The Prebendary of Wittering. —
Richard Bury. — An uncouth Student described. — Bradwardine a
Merton Man. — Distinguished as a Student. — Mathematical Studi3s.
— The Classical Pursuits. — De Causa Dei, edited by Savile. — Cele
brity of the De Causa. — Motive of the De Causa. — Prevalent Pela-
gianism. — Styled Doctor Profundus. — A practical Man. — Proctor of
the University. — Controversy with the Archdeacon of Oxford.—
Neglect of Learning. — Admitted to the Household of the Bishop of
Durham. — Literary Society. — Formation of a Library by the Bishcp.
— Bradwardine Chancellor of St. Paul's. — Prebendary of Lincoln. —
King's Chaplain. — Goes to Flanders. — Royal Progress up the Rhine
to Cologne and Coblentz. — Bradwardine Chaplain-General of the
Forces. — Elected to the See of Canterbury. — Election superseded 1 >y
the King. — Ufford appointed to Canterbury. — UfFord dies uncon-
secrated. — Bradwardine elected to the Primacy. — Consecrated ;it
Avignon. — Strange conduct of a Cardinal. — Returns to England.—
The Black Death. — Bradwardine dies of the Plague.

CHAP.
XI.

JUDGING from the name, we may conclude, that the
family of the celebrated schoolman, who is known i i
ecclesiastical history as the Doctor Profundus, cam 3

* Authorities : Thomae Bradwardini, Archiepisc. olim Cantuar. D 3
Causa Dei contra Pelagium, et de Virtute Causarum. London, 1618.
This, the great work of the Doctor Profundus, was edited by Savile,
who has, in the Preface, collected the few facts which we possess of hi i
personal history. See also Birchington ; William de Chambre, Hist.
Dunelrn ; William de Dene, Hist. Roff.

ARCHBISHOPS QF CANTERBURY. 81

originally from Bradwardine, a parish near Hereford.* CHAP.
But we have the authority of the Doctor Profundus him
self, for the fact, that he was himself a native of Chichester, Bradwa?
as had been his father and his grandfather.f f^

The date of Bradwardine's birth is uncertain. Savile
supposes it to have been about the year 1290 ; but it is
difficult to make this harmonise with some of the events
of his life, which would induce us to look for an earlier
date.J

Certain it is, that at the period of his birth, and for
some time before, Chichester was in a flourishing con
dition ; and was the residence of eminent men, who
took an interest in its welfare. The Lady Chapel, at the

* In public documents the name of the Doctor Profundus is usually
written Thomas de Bradwardina and de Bredewardina. Savile con
jectures that it was written Bradwardine, "euphonic, ut puto, gratia."
Gerson has it Bragwardin ; Gesner, Branduardinus ; other spellings
are Bredwardyn (Birchington), Bradwardyn (William de Dene ), Brad-
widyn (Chaucer).

f The words of Bradwardine himself are express upon this point :
" Per similem etiam rationem quicquid nunc scribo Oxonias, scriberet
pater meus Cicestria?, quia genuit me scribentem, imo avus et pro-
avus." It is strange that in the face of this declaration by Bradwar
dine himself, so many other places should be spoken of. Birchington
says of him : " De parochia de Hertfield, Cicestrensis Dioeceseos oriun-
dus," Ang. Sac. i. 376. This Dart and Godwin convert into Hatfield;
Hasted into Heathfield. But Bradwardine speaks not of the Diocese
of Chichester, but of Chichester itself. William de Dene (Ang. Sac.
i. 42), gives as his birthplace Condenna, that is, probably, Cowden, in
the Diocese of Rochester. Savile says : " Ut non multum aberrasse
videahtur Balaeus et Antiquitatum Britannicarum auctor, qui Hartfeldiae
natum asserunt in Dirccesi Cicestrensi, quibus auctoribus, aut quibus
permoti argumentis nescio. Apud me certe ilia auctoris verba prarpon-
derabunt, dum aliquid certius ab aliis afferatur."

J Savile says : " Quo anno natus sit, quemadmodum nihil pro certo
asseveraverim (ut sunt magnorum ssepe virorum principia obscura,
quorum sunt notissimi exitus), ita, cum Procuratorem fuisse constet
Universitatis Oxoniensis anno 1325, circa annum Domini 1290 natum
crediderim, mediis temporibus Regis Edwardi Primi.

VOL. IV. G

82 LIVES OF THE

east end of the Presbytery, had just been completed. It
had been designed and commenced by the piety of
Bishop Gilbert de S. Leofard,* and was completed by the
distinguished statesman, who now presided over the see
of Chichester, John de Langton. f

Whether young Bradwardine «aw the campanile or
bell tower, may be doubted. Tradition gives the work
to Bishop John de Langton, but Professor Willis, from
internal evidence, assigns to it a later date. But he must
have looked upon the fair proportions of the south tran
sept window which John de Langton was erecting; and
gazed probably with awe on the tomb beneath it, which
the living bishop had opened to be to him a perpetual
memento of the certainty of death and the insecurity of
life.

There were other great men at, or about, that timo,
connected with the cathedral of Chichester. There wrs
Simon de Mepham, who became Archbishop of Canter
bury ; and who, in remembrance of the happy days, which
he passed, as a canon residentiary of Chichester, selectel

* Bishop Gilbert had been educated at Oxford, and was successively
Precentor of Chichester and official of Canterbury. Mat. Paris speal s
of the holiness of his life, " vitae illius sanctimoniam," and alludes to h:s
miracles, on the ground of which application was made to the pope fcr
his canonization. There seems, indeed, to have been some ambitio i
at this time to increase the number of English saints. Applications
had been made, within a few years, for the canonization of Thomas cf
Lancaster, Archbishop Winchelsey, Bishop D'Alderby of Lincoln,
Bishop Marsh of Bath and Wells. — Foedera, iv. 268, 272, 275, 375 ;
Wikes, 116; Waverl. 239.

•f John de Langton was educated at Oxford, and was one of tho
many distinguished men who at that time gave fame to Merton Col
lege ; he was, as stated in the text, an eminent statesman. His church
preferments were the Rectory of Burwell, a prebend in York Cathedral
another in Lincoln in 1294 ; the treasurership of Wells ; the Arch
deaconry of Canterbury, 1299. He was consecrated to the see o.'
Chichester on the 10th of September, 1307.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 83

from the many manors belonging to the see of Canter- CHAP

bury, Slindon, in the neighbourhood of Chichester, to be > ,- —

his favourite retreat from the cares of business. John de Bradwar-
S. Leofard, nephew of the late Bishop Gilbert, was dean, j1™*-
— a man of energy and zeal. But the person destined
to be the great patron of Bradwardine, was Eichard of
Bury, who, having a stall in our cathedral, was already
evincing his taste as a book-collector.

John de Langton, the bishop, was a man of whom
Chichester was justly proud. He was not, indeed, eminent
as a divine ; but, as a lawyer and a statesman, he had few
equals. He had commenced life as a clerk in Chancery,
and is the first person, to whom the title of Master of the
Eolls can be distinctly traced. In a letter patent of Ed
ward I, 1286, quoted by Mr. Hardy, he is called Gustos
Eotulorum. In 1292, he succeeded, in the chancellorship,
one of the most distinguished statesmen that this country
has produced — Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells. In
1307, when John de Langton was consecrated Bishop of
Chichester, he had twice sat in the marble chair at
Westminster, Lord High Chancellor of England. He had
received many ecclesiastical preferments, the duties of
which he had discharged by deputies, employing the
income to maintain his dignity at court. But in 1307,
he had begun to see the vanity of mere secular pursuits ;
and he gradually weaned himself from the world, having
determined, at all events, not to follow the example of
too many of his brethren ; who, in serving the king and
the state, neglected those spiritual duties, which men of
true piety regarded as their first concern. He was,
probably, influenced by the example of his immediate
predecessor, — one of the few prelates who had not
busied himself in worldly pursuits. Bishop Gilbert was
a truly good man. Bishop Gilbert was munificent in
what related to the general interests of the cathedral

G 2

84 LIVES OF THE

and diocese, and unbounded in his charity to the poor.
Bishop Gilbert was so respected and beloved while
living, that it was expected, that miracles would be
performed at his tomb. Some who had sought relief in
vain at the shrine of our great St. Eichard, knelt at the
grave of Bishop Gilbert; and among nervous patients,
whose imaginations were heated, some wonderful cures
were effected. The people of Chichester, ambitious to
have another saint, demanded the canonization of their
late diocesan. Although we may regard such persons
in these days as superstitious, the name of Gilbert ainon?
the prelates of Chichester is still spoken of with reverence
and respect.

Under such superintendence, the parochial clergy united
with the dean and chapter in their efforts to make, by th 3
erection of a spire, a suitable addition to an edifice, which
was properly regarded, as the parish church of the wholo
diocese. On certain festivals, other churches were closed ;
and to the mother church all persons were expected
to repair. This circumstance rendered them the mor<$
ready to give assistance.

The Prebendal school was not yet established ; bu ;
about the year 1224 Bishop Ealph Neville had attaches
a Divinity lectureship to the prebend of Wittering, anc.
the prebendary was sworn " Se lecturum in claustro
Cicestrias temporibus opportunist *

Although, therefore, the present cloisters are of later
date, yet a cloister existed in the fourteenth century ; and

* Ordinatio Bonifacii, Archiepisc. ad Johan. Cicestr. Episc. E. 213 :
" Episcopus qui pro tempore fuerit, tenetur conferre et conferat dictam
Prrcbendam Regent! actualiter in theologia, qui in receptione prae-
bendfe juret corporaliter, in claustro Cicestria? fideliter et sine fraude se
lecturum, temporibus opportunis. Volumus et ordinamus, quod hoc
onus legendi, dictse prasbenda? perpetuo sit annexatum. In cujus rei
Dat. apud. Slyndon die Scti. Bartholomei, 1259.

— ,

1349.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 85

here young Bradwardine received the first elements of CHAP.
that learning, by which he was destined to elevate himself
above his contemporaries, and to establish an immortal
name. In the same cloisters, he would converse with dme-
Eichard of Bury, of whom we shah1 have occasion to speak
hereafter. Eichard Aungervile of Bury, filled some of the
highest offices in Church and State ; but he is still more
distinguished for the library he collected, — the largest
belonging to any private person in the country. He was
a man of much dry humour and wit ; and, warning
young Thomas to be careful to wash his hands before pre
suming to handle a book, he thus satirises some of the
uncouth students, whose manners and habits reflected
discredit on literature : — " You will sometimes see," he re
marked, " a stiff-necked youth lounging sluggishly in the
scriptorium. In winter the frost perhaps pinches him ;
the big drop hangs from his nose, and being too lazy to
wipe it off with his handkerchief, lie lete it fall upon the
moistened page. Better than a book upon his knee a
cobbler's apron would befit such a creature as this. Any
passage that pleases him he indents with a filthy nail big
as a giant's. Then he marks the places, that he may
recur to them, with straws sticking out from the volume.
These straws, which the stomach of the book never
digests, and which nobody ever takes out, distend the
book at first, and then they become putrid. Over the
open book the fellow munches cheese and fruit, and on it
he places his empty jug, first on one side, then on the other ;
having, in fact, no alms-bag at hand, he fills the book
with the fragments of his food. He keeps on chattering
his nonsense with eternal garrulity to any chance com
panions, and splutters the page with his saliva ; or still
worse, feeling inclined for a nap, he digs his elbows into
the page over which he sprawls. Then, to repair the
creases, he twists back the margin of the leaves, to the no

86 LIVES OF THE

small detriment of the volume. Or if it be spring-tide,
he stuffs his volume with violets, roses, quadrefoils which
ne wi§nes to preserve. In summer he comes in with the
sweat oozing from his wet hands, and turns over the
volume ; then with a dusty glove he will soil the white
parchment still further by attempting to dust it, or will
pass over the page, line by line, with a forefinger armed
with dirty leather. Then, perhaps, a flea bites him, and
ah1 of a sudden the holy book is flung away, soiled and
swelled with dust, resisting all attempts to close it."

Such was the complaint of a book-collector in the four
teenth century ; and a good rule was laid down by
Eichard Bury when he insisted, that washing shoulc.
always precede reading — a rule which the librarians of
mechanics' institutes, and we may say the librarians also
in fashionable wTatering-places, even in the nineteenth
century, would be glad to enforce.*

We know not the year, in which Thomas Bradwardine
left the cloisters of his native city for the banks of the

* Philobiblon, cap. xvii. In the Paris edition of 1500, this work is
called Philobiblion. Canon Shirley, in his valuable Preface to the
Fasciculi Zizaniorum, xlvii., says that the real author of the Philobiblon
was not Richard Bury himself, but his chaplain Robert Holcot ; but
Mr. Foss remarks, that the history of the bishop's private life, in chapter
viii., makes it probable, that it was Richard Bury's own compo
sition. William de Chambre describes Richard Bishop of Durham as
only "sufficienter literatus;" and there are classical references, which
show the author to be a well-read man ; or they may be regarded as
pieces of pedantry of which you would suppose a man " sufficienter
literatus," wishing to appear a scholar, to be guilty. The pedantry of
the work struck me, when first I read it, as remarkable ; the author
goes out of his way to show his learning. There are, however, some
striking passages as well as worthy remarks. The following might be
placed over the door of a library. Speaking of books, he says : " Hi
sunt magistri qui nos instruunt sine virgis vel ferula, sine verbis et
colera, sine pane et pecunia. Si accedis non dormiunt, si inquiris non
se absconderunt, non remurmurant si obcurres, cachinnos nesciunt si
ignores."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 87

Isis. We only do know, that he was one of the many dis
tinguished men who proved the wisdom of Walter de
Merton, in introducing the collegiate system into our Bradwar-
universities. He was a Merton man ; and the catalogue of dj1;®-

13*x9.

the Chancellors and Proctors of the University of Oxford
contains his name in the year 1325 — Procura tores Wil-
lielmus de Harrington et Thomas de Bradwardin. His
contemporaries are unanimous, in the testimony they bear
to his early pre-eminence as a scholar. He was familiar
with the writings of Plato and Aristotle ; and, at the same
time, distinguished himself as a mathematician. According
to Savile, no one approached him in this department
of science. He instances, among the other works of
Bradwardine, his "Astronomical Tables descriptive of
the Equations of the Planets and the Conjunctions and
Oppositions of the Heavenly Bodies." These Savile, a
very competent authority, had examined. Bradwardine's
treatise " De Arithmetica Speculativa " was published
at Paris in the year 1495, and again in 1530 — a proof
of the high estimation in which the work was long held.
Another treatise, "De Geometria Speculativa," was also
published in 1495, and this was reprinted in 1516.
His treatise " De Proportionibus Velocitatum" was printed
first at Paris, and then at Venice in 1505.*

From the school of science he passed into that of moral
philosophy and theology. He was requested by the
Fellows of Merton to lay before them the results of his
studies, and he delivered to them a course of lectures,
which, when he afterwards resided in London, and had
the library of Eichard Bury to consult, he arranged in
the form of a treatise and published. It was edited, with
his usual ability, by Savile, himself a Merton man, in
1618, at the suggestion of Archbishop Abbot. In the

* " Plurimos alios conscripsit," says Savile, " in omni disciplinarum
genere, si credimus Baleo, mihi non tractates."

88 LIVES OF THE

six manuscripts consulted by Savile the title of the work
is " Summa Doctoris Profundi." The title it now bears is
" ^e Causa Dei contra Pelagium et de Virtute causarum
ad suos Mertonenses libri tres." It is a folio of more
than 900 pages. It is a mine of thought, and is consulted
by deep thinkers, especially those of the Calvinistic school,
in the nineteenth century. It was analysed in the last
century, with great care and judgment by Dean Milner,
who was one of the first mathematicians, and perhaps the
most learned of the Calvinistic divines of his own age.

Immediately upon its publication, this work was re
ceived, by all learned men, with such applause, that it
immediately found a place in almost all the libraries of
Europe. Gerson, Gregorius Ariminensis, and many other
writers quoted from it, as regarding its arguments in the?
light of an authority. On a work which made such an
impression on the public mind it is necessary to offer a
few remarks.

The school philosophy, it is well known, was employed
in the application of dialectics to theology. By theology,
or by orthodox theology, was meant, in the middle ages,
the theological system deduced, or deducible from the
writings of St. Augustine. Augustine stood in the same
relation to the mediaeval doctors, as that in which Calvin
stood towards the theologians of England, in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. But, as is often the case with
respect to authorities to which men nominally defer,
Augustine was less read than praised; and when he was
quoted, the quotations were too frequently taken from
abstracts made from his works, apart from the context ;
consequently, he was frequently misunderstood, and more
frequently misinterpreted.

Bradwardine was a student of the entire works of the
great Latin doctor, whom he regarded as the true apostolic
logician and philosopher. As he read deeply and thought

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 89

profoundly, he was fearless in declaring what he believed CHAP.
to be the truth. He feared not to startle the world by
declaring, that nearly the whole Church had become Pela-
gian. In attempting to prove his position, he anticipated,
to a certain extent, the work of the Eeformers of the six
teenth century. For some time, there had been a strong
anti-papal spirit in England, so far as politics were con
cerned. To a French pope residing at Avignon the
English were naturally opposed ; but it is in the pages of
Bradwardine, that we have the first surmise, that there
was doctrinal error as well as erroneous conduct. He
pointed out the occult Pelagianism, which existed in the
doctrine which related to what was styled the merit of
congruity — the doctrine against which our 13th Article
is directed. By rejecting the merit of condignity, that is,
the merit, which claims reward on the score of justice, the
divines of the fourteenth century supposed, that they
escaped the heresy of Pelagianism. But from their desire
to recognise, in some sense, the merit of human virtue —
the constant demand of man's proud heart — they asserted
the merit of congruity. According to this doctrine, it was
contended, that the performance on the part of man of
certain good actions, rendered it meet and equitable, that
God should confer upon him saving grace. It is on this
point, that Bradwardine is original, and he establishes his
position with*, logical or rather mathematical precision.
As he excelled in mathematics, so he brought his mathe
matics to bear upon his method of treating theological
questions. He first of all, lays down two hypotheses or
principles, and he then demonstrates their consequences,
and deduces the corollaries. The consequences are some
times such as would startle a more cautious and practical
reasoner into a re-examination of his principles, or into a
reconsideration of his hypotheses ; but Bradwardine
marches boldly on, perfectly contented if he is formally

90 LIVES OF THE

correct. His primary design was a refutation of Pela-
- gianism ; but, in the prosecution of his subject, he is led
on to treat, at considerable length, of the Great God
Himself, His Perfections, Eternity, Immutability, Im
mensity, and of His other Divine attributes, particularly
His knowledge, power, and will. Bradwardine's principle
of predestination is deduced from the absolute Being of
God, from His self-existence and immutability. By this
mode of arguing, the distinction sometimes attempted to
be made between foreknowledge and predestination is
excluded. Our author is not deterred from maintaining
as a necessary corollary from his premises, that God
willed sin privative though not positive. Human freedom
is conditioned by the Divine necessity. The will of the
Creator leads, that of the creature follows. His principles
were what would be called, in modern times, extreme
Calvinism.

These abstruse subjects present themselves, from time
to time, for discussion in the Church, being designed,
probably, by Divine Providence to interest the minds of
men, by compelling them to stretch out their necks, as it
were, that, if it be possible, they may look over the ram
parts, which separate eternity from time. The mind must
be severely exercised on religion ; but the mind will not
be excited unless perplexities occur. To those, whose
inclination is to metaphysical inquiries, or to the reveries
of mysticism, such subjects have a peculiar interest ; and
whatever tends to elevate the mind above the realities of
ordinary life has, if not carried to excess, a salutary
iDfluence. Many minds have, in all ages, found it
difficult to reject Augustinianism, or, as it was subse
quently called, Calvinism ; for it is against the conclusions
that they have revolted, while, by the process of argumen
tation, through which the conclusions have been reached,
they have been fascinated. Their moral nature and their

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 91

intellectual nature, their sentiment and their logic, are at CHAP.

variance. The feelings of the persons, who are opposed . ^ —

to the a priori argument, which leads to conclusions Bradro-

against which their reason rebels, are expressed by Pope <1"^
with his usual terseness and felicity of expression : —

Let others creep by timid steps and slow,
On plain experience lay foundations low,
By common sense to common knowledge bred,
And last to nature's Cause through nature led ;
All-seeing, in thy mists we want no guide,
Mother of arrogance and source of pride ;
We boldly take the high Priori road,
And reason downward till we doubt of God.

To this quotation from the most elegant of our poets
we may add another from the father of English song,
who united with his contemporaries in his admiration of
Bradwardine, but demurred to some of the conclusions
to which his mathematical precision brought him. The
following passage occurs in the " Nun's Priest's Tale : " —

But what that God afore wrote must needs bee,

After the opinion of certaine clerkis.

Witnesse of him that any clerke is,

That in Schoole is great altercation

In this matter, and great disputation,

And hath been of an hundred thousand men.

But I ne cannot boult it to the bren,

As can the holy doctour S. Austin,

Or Boece, or the Bishop Bradwardin.

Whether that God's worthy foreweting

Straineth me needly to doe a thing,

(Needly clepe I simple necessite)

Or if the free choice be granted me

To doe the same thing, or do it nought,

Though God fore wot it or it was wrought.

Or if his weting straineth never a dele

But by necessite conditionele,

I woll not have to done of such matere.

92 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. By the universal consent of learned men, throughout
- /_, Christendom, the title of Doctor Profundus was accorded
war- to tne learned author of the " De Causa Dei," who is as
1349 we^ known by that appellation as Scotus is by that of
Doctor Subtilis, and Aquinas by that of Doctor Angelicus.*
Our admiration of Bradwardine is increased, when we
find that, student as he was, and devoted to the profound
speculations of Christian philosophy, he never hesitated
to leave his favourite studies ; when, by the call of
Providence, he was summoned to the duties of active
life. He so arranged his secular pursuits as always to
find time, like Mary, to sit at Jesus' feet ; but he did not
forget, that Mary had previously assisted Martha in her
household work. He only objected to serve when, 'he
service being overmuch, and undertaken voluntarily, pre
vented him from attending to that care of the soul, which
he knew to be the first duty of the individual to himself.
Classical literature was, at this time, studied, and, as we
see in the Philobiblon, was rather pedantically displayed.
Bradwardine may, therefore, have passed from things
sacred, and have observed Mertonensibus suis, that
although with Theophrastus he preferred the contei i-
plative life, he would also follow the advice of Dicasarchts,
and engage in a life of action, following the example of
Cicero in the union of the two classes of duty.

In the year 1325, he accepted the office of junior
proctor in the University of Oxford, and wras immediately
involved in the intricacies of a troublesome lawsuit. A

* We may here remark that the Dominicans were avowedly tl e
advocates of the doctrines of St. Augustine, and especially accused tie
Franciscans of being semi-Pelagians. To this circumstance I attribute
the supposition of some later writers, that Bradwardine was a Do
minican, for which I can find no contemporary authority. If he ha 1
been a Dominican, we may be quite sure that the Dominicans woul-l
have made their boast of him.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 93

controversy had arisen between the University and the
Archdeacon of Oxford. The archdeaconry was held in
commendam by a certain Galhardus de Mota, Cardinal
of St. Lucia ; and while the duties of the office were
neglected or performed by deputy, the emoluments were
farmed by certain unscrupulous persons, whose object was,
of course, to make the best of their bargain. In the arch
deacon's name, they claimed spiritual jurisdiction within
the University of Oxford. This was done, not for the pur
pose of enforcing discipline, but with an evident tendency
to relax it. Their object was to obtain jurisdiction in the
University, in order that they might compel the students
to purchase a relaxation of discipline, or occasionally buy
off a threatened prosecution. The archidiaconal officers
were low men, whose mode of proceeding in the diocese is
described in the introductory chapter, and it was thought,
that a course of proceeding, found to be lucrative in the
diocesan cities, would be productive of great gain in the
University. The chancellor and the proctors maintained,
that, by the common law of England, the discipline of the
University rested with them. They spoke with contempt
of the non-resident archdeacon and of his pretensions.
When this was reported to the cardinal, he was violently
indignant, and obtained letters from the pope, requiring
the attendance of the chancellor, proctors, and certain
masters of arts at Avignon, to make answer to such things
as should be laid to their charge. They declined to put
in an appearance, and instituted a counter suit by appeal
ing to the king. The king gave them a gracious hearing,
and succeeded in compelling the archdeacon to submit
his case to the arbitration of English judges.*

For a man who, like Bradwardine, loved learning for

* Wood, Annals, 408. Foedera, iv. 190. The affair was not settled
before 1330, if even then. A few years afterwards the University was
exempted from episcopal jurisdiction.

94 LIVES OP THE

CHAP, its own sake, the University was the proper place ; but
XL ^ he was summoned to London, to become one of the
lradwar- household of the Bishop of Durham, who was none other
^ne- than his former friend and patron, Eichard Aungerville,
better known by the name of Eichard of Bury. This-
eminent man had been consecrated to the see of Durham
in 1333, and having been appointed Lord Treasurer on
the 3rd of February 1334, and Lord Chancellor on the
28th of the following September, was now at the head
of a splendid establishment. Thirty-six esquires waited
in uniform in his hall, and twenty chaplains all arrayed
alike. Nobles resorted to his court, and he was visited
by royalty itself. But his delight was in the society of
men of learning. He could himself repeat conversations,
which he had, when he was on an embassy to Avigncn,
with Petrarch, already renowned. At dinner, a reader
was appointed. In this appointment, Eichard Bu^
introduced, into his episcopal establishment, a custom
prevalent in the monasteries ; but his learned companior s,
inclining to pedantry, referred also, very probably, ,o
the practice of the Eomans, who, as we learn fron
Cicero, employed not unfrequently an anagnostes. A
free discussion, after dinner, was permitted to the
learned men, who assembled at the hospitable board.
The change, therefore, from Merton College to the palace
of the Bishop of Durham, or to his residence in London,
was little more than the removal from one college t3
another. The change, indeed, was hardly so great i:i
the case of Bradwardine ; for he was associated with seven
other Merton men — a circumstance, which reflects tho
more honour on that society, when we find, that tho
Bishop of Durham was not a Merton man himself.
There were, besides Bradwardine, Eichard Fitzralph,
afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, the opponent of th(
mendicants and the precursor of Wiclif ; Walter Burley ;

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 95

John Mauduit ; Eobert Holcot (supposed to have been CHAP.
the real author of the Philobiblon) ; Eichard Kilwington, • — ,-1— .
or Kilmington, all doctors of divinity, as was Bradwar- Bradwar-
dine himself; Eichard Bentworth, afterwards Bishop of ^"g
London, and Walter Seagrave, afterwards Dean of
Chichester.

These men were happily employed in assisting the
bishop, in the collection and arrangement of a library,
which became one of the wonders of the age. The
bishop thought, with Cicero, that to attach a library to his
residence was to supply a soul to his household ; and if
he found in Holcot his Tyrannio, he found in Bradwar-
dine an Atticus. Eichard of Bury's opportunities for
effecting his purpose were great, and of these he availed
himself to the utmost. As treasurer and chancellor he
was in constant attendance upon the king ; and in their
progress through the country, while the king was enjoy
ing the pleasures of the chase, the chancellor was hunting
for rare books — " for crazy quartos and tottering folios," as
he himself expressed it — in the libraries of the neighbour
ing cathedrals and monasteries. He found many of these
public libraries in a dilapidated condition. Books of
inestimable value were covered with the excrements of
mice, and pierced through by the gnawing of worms.
Eichard's love of books was soon known, and people
discovered that they could purchase the favour of the
chancellor, though not by money, yet by quartos. In his
foreign embassies, he states, that he gave it out, that he
" preferred folios to florins, books before bags, and petty
pamphlets to pampered palfreys." Valuable additions to
his library were, in consequence, easily obtained.

The books were collected rather than arranged, until
he retired from public life, and confined himself to his
episcopal duties. In every manor house of the see,
books were seen lying about. No one could take a seat

96 LIVES OP THE

CHAP, without knocking against a book. His bed-room

"XT

\' -

"XT

' full of them. He boasted, that the first Greek and

Hebrew grammars were the result of his labours ; and
the library which his chaplains were now assorting in
London, preparatory to his final removal to Durham, he
bequeathed at his death to the students of a college in
Oxford, at that time called Durham College, but row
known as Trinity.

In this library Thomas Bradwardine found the books
which it was necessary for him to consult, when he gave
the " De Causa Dei " to the public. At the same time we
must admit, that Bradwardine did not make all the use
of such a library as might have been expected, or rather
as would have been expected in a more accurate age.
His quotations are carelessly made, and not unfrequeniy
from apocryphal Greek authors. Of this his learned
editor complains.

Bishops, like kings, sought to pay their servants not
from their own purses, but by converting, in their favour,
the preferments of the Church into sinecures. The Bishop
of Durham obtained for his chaplain the Chancellorship
of St. Paul's, with the Prebend of Cadington minor
attached to it. Bradwardine was collated on the 19th of
September, 1337. He accepted, soon after, a prebend in
Lincoln Cathedral. To the acceptance of the latter pre
ferment he at first demurred. So much had been said, of
late, against non-resident beneficiaries, — though at first the
remarks were intended only to apply to foreigners, — that
a conscientious man like Bradwardine may have hesitated
to make himself responsible for duties, which he was
never likely to discharge in person. When he was in
London, he could perform the duties of the chancellor
ship, and he probably read, in St. Paul's, what he hat
formerly delivered as lectures at Oxford, before he col
lected his productions into a volume. At Lincoln his

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 97

stall would be a sinecure. But whatever his scruples CHAP.
may have been at first, they were overruled, for he was
nominated to an office, in which all the money he could
collect would be required.

On the joint recommendation of Archbishop Stratford
and Bishop Eichard of Bury, Thomas Bradwardine was ap
pointed one of the chaplains of the king. Here the expenses,
like the power, would be great ; the salary nil. The king
would find employment, the Church pay. If credit is to
be given to the political songs of the day, the life of King
Edward III., at this period, was so immoral, that we may
suppose, that these prelates, though men of the world-
statesmen and lawyers rather than divines, but still men
of unimpeachable morality — desired to place in contact
with the king a man, whose firmness of character was
only surpassed by his unpretending modesty and gentle
temper. The very abjects respected Thomas Bradwardine.*

The new chaplain joined the brilliant court of Edward
III. in Flanders ; and formed part of the suite, when on
the 16th of August, 1338, escorted by peers and prelates,
with a numerous retinue of servants, and a body guard
of sixty men, the king proceeded up the Ehine. The
king's object was to hold a conference at Coblentz, with
his brother-in-law, Louis of Bavaria, whose right to the
imperial diadem was maintained by the English. Until
the illumination of the Ehine, on the reception given to
Queen Victoria by the King of Prussia, the progress of

* He is described as " Regi Edwardo Tertio a sacris confessionibus,"
which is sometimes translated Confessor to the King. This was a
title borne by all the royal chaplains. When the writer of this note
was appointed one of the chaplains of George IV., there was an office
still in existence, to which the title of Confessor of the Household was
attached. The title was changed to Chaplain of the Household by
Bishop Bloinfield. Whether Bradwardine was the chaplain who ordi
narily received the confessions of Edward III. is not known. That he
was such we should infer from Birchington.
VOL. IV. II

98 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. King Edward from Antwerp to Coblentz was unsurpassed,

_XL , perhaps unequalled, in magnificence. It was like the

mXar- triumphant procession of a conqueror. All persons, of all

dine- classes, combined to give a welcome to the King of

England, and to do him honour. By their enthusiasm,

they made manifest the importance attached by llie

Germans to the English alliance, and the high position

which our country had now taken among the nations of

Europe.

There are few things more striking, than the minuteness
and accuracy with which the public accounts were kept
in the middle ages. The light which is thrown, by ttie
study of them, upon the facts of history, as well as upon
the customs and habits of our ancestors, renders them
historically valuable. There is in existence a wardro oe
account book of Edward III.* between the years 13)>8
and 1340, by which we might trace that monarch, in Lis
peregrinations, day by day, through some of the most
lovely, if not the most sublime scenery in the world.
But we must confine our attention to the duties performed
by the king, when acting under the direction of his
chaplain and almoner.

In the life of Stratford, we have had occasion to notice
the munificence, amounting to extravagance, of Edward,
at this period of his reign. The emperor, dukes, mar
quises, counts found their coffers replenished by Engli&h
gold, for which they paid in great promises to be almost
immediately repudiated. The Church had no reason to
complain. Directed by his chaplain, the king visited, fcr
the purposes of devotion, the convents of the Minorite;?,
Dominicans, Augustines, and Carmelites. These priories
possessed relics ; and, as travellers now deviate from tli3

* Copious extracts have been made from this document by Pauli i i
Quellen imd Erorterungen zur Bayerischen und Deutschen Geschicht< ,
vol vii., and in his " Pictures of Old England."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 99

high road, allured by the desire of seeing a picture and CHAP.
some splendid work of art, so, in the fourteenth century, a - — ,—
relic was the attraction. Warriors as well as pilgrims went
out of their way, to pray at the shrine of some spiritual hero,
and to ask for his intercessions in their behalf. At each of
these convents, the king made a donation, which would
amount, in our money, to about fifty pounds. If there
were relics of English saints, the donation was considera
bly larger. When having arrived at Cologne, the king
looked down, from the city walls, upon " the deep abound
ing river" — at that time, the high road of commerce —
there was much to interest him in the welfare of a people,
whose welfare, in a commercial point of view, was so
much identified with that of England. One of the great
objects of the politic monarch being to enrich his country,
by encouraging trade ; — with the traders in all countries
he was popular. The mind of Bradwardine, meantime, as
he gazed on the uncompleted edifice before him, reverted
to his home, where the works in his much-loved cathedral
were in progress. The noble choir of Cologne Cathedral
stood, in all its beauty, before them; but so much remained
to be done, before the wonderful structure as it was de
signed, would be completed, that, in the nineteenth century,
it is still unfinished. Bradwardine reminded the king, that
it was in the old cathedral of Cologne, that Richard Coeur
de Lion offered public thanksgiving, in the midst of a
sympathising people, for his escape from the Duke of
Austria. So much was the king's grandfather, the illus
trious Edward L, interested by this circumstance, that
he had added to the endowments of the chapter, to secure
certain masses for the repose of King Richard's soul.
The old cathedral had been destroyed by fire ; but the
Archbishop Conrad von Hochstaden immediately visited
England, to collect contributions from the English mer
chants and from King Henry III., a well-known patron

H 2

100 LIVES OF THE

of the arts. Edward III., though a wiser man than the
third Henry, was himself an admirer of architecture, as
war- was afterwards proved by his selection of William of
1349' Wykeham to be his architect, and by his enabling that
munificent prelate to render Windsor Castle a palace as
well as a fortress — a residence fit for England's kings in:
peace or in war. The magnificent design of Cologne
Cathedral was laid before the king, and, after conference
with his chaplain and almoner, he subscribed a su 11
amounting to not less, according to the present value of
money, than £1,500.

" And so," exclaims the German historian, Pauli, who
loves England of all nations best, next to his own father
land with which he wishes to identify it, " English gol 1
is cemented with the very foundation-stones of Cologne
Cathedral, and with the buttresses of the south tower.
At all events," he exclaims, "if ever a tablet shall b3
erected, inscribed with the names of the many high and
mighty patrons of that vast labyrinth of columns and
Gothic arches, among the first and most distinguished
should stand the name of Edward III. King of England." s::

I know not how this may be, but we may state, with
confidence, that if gold to the amount of a thousam
pounds shall flow forth from the Prussian treasury, ir
grateful remembrance of the munificence of Edward, tc
be cemented in the strong walls of the rising spire 01
Chichester Cathedral, William King of Prussia will secure
for himself a monument cere perennius, while his portrait,
shall find a place, in our south transept, next to the
Conqueror of Cressy.f

* " Pictures of Old England," 155.

•f There was a succession of portraits of the Kings of England and
the Bishops of Chichester in the south transept of the Cathedral, and the
pictures, though damaged, have not been destroyed, and will be restored.
One of the last public acts of the late Prince Consort was to vint

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 101

From Cologne the king went up the Bhine to Coblentz ;
and on Saturday, the 5th of September, his public re-
ception by the emperor took place. On a throne, raised Bradwar-
twelve feet from the ground, sat the Emperor Louis, j^ne.
wearing the double crown, and carrying the sceptre in
his hand. On a throne one step below him, sat his
brother-in-law, Edward King of England, also wearing
his crown. Around them in their robes of ceremony, and
carrying the insignia of office, stood the electoral princes
and other imperial dignitaries. It is said, that seventeen
hundred lords and knights, attended by their retainers,
were present on this occasion. Certain laws of the empire
having been proclaimed in the name of the emperor,
Louis nominated his brother-in-law, King Edward, to be
his vicar or representative for all the imperial district
lying on the left bank of the Ehine.

It is no part of my business to enter into the political
consequences of this ceremonial. But what now took
place marks an era in ecclesiastical history. These events

the ruins of the Cathedral. To the pictures he directed his atten
tion ; and having been told that they were not of any intrinsic value,
his reply was : " Everything is valuable which marks the taste, good
or bad, of any period in our history." In the first volume of this
work, of which the Prince in gracious terms accepted a copy, it was
remarked that England would not know his value until he was lost
to her — a prediction which found its fulfilment awfully soon. Of the
Prince Consort's wonderful ability to understand, almost intuitively, the
most difficult scientific problems, when brought under his notice, I
have heard some of the most learned of our scientific men speak with
enthusiasm. The statesman will always refer to the illustrious prince
as the first among the princes of Europe who understood the exact
position which the sovereign occupies, in a constitutional government.
The moralist will study his biography, as containing the most perfect
example we have of self-abnegation for the good of others. When we
speak of the consistent heroism, which results from a sense of duty, we
think of the Duke of Wellington : in the late Prince Consort, we have a
perfect model of unselfishness.

102 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, took place not only without the concurrence of the pope,
XL . but in defiance of his authority. The papal power at

JradTar- Avignon, where the pope was in fact a subject of the
dine. King of France, was not what it had been at Borne. In
the Babylonish captivity, as the Eomans called it, the
papacy received a shock, from which it never recovered.
At this very diet, it was decreed, that the prince, who \\ as
chosen by the electors to be King of the Eomans, should
assume that high dignity without waiting for the con
firmation of his title by the pope. The student of history
will watch the silent, stealthy, but unceasing progress of
those principles, which eventually terminated in the
Eeformation.

In the life of Stratford, we have had occasion to sta:e
how the high expectations of the King of England were
frustrated by the intrigues of Avignon and of Paris ; and
it would seem from the violence of Edward, and tie
offences of which he was guilty, that Bradwardine lost for
a season his influence over the royal mind. But ths t
influence was soon regained. It was, doubtless, throug i
him, to a considerable extent, that Edward was induced
to receive back into his favour Archbishop Stratford, th 3
friend of both. From the naval victory of Sluys to th-3
glorious field of Cressy and the taking of Calais, Brad
wardine was in attendance on the king.

He spoke to the king boldly, but always with affection
and respect ; not with the sternness of a judge, but witl
the sympathy of a Christian. He soothed Edward in his
anger, and prevented him from being too much elatec
under his successes. He repressed the insolence of the
soldiery, and, in his addresses to the army, he used such
persuasive language, and conducted himself with such dis
cretion and prudence, that lie was regarded as a saint.
So much so, that there were not a few, who attributed
the victories of Edward to the efficacy of the chaplain's

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 103

prayers, quite as much as to the wise generalship of the CHAP.
king.* - -

So highly, indeed, was Bradwardine esteemed, even in
quarters, where it may be feared, that his piety would not
have been a special recommendation, in the court of
Clement VI., that he was appointed one of the com
missioners, to treat of peace with King Philip after the
battles of Cressy and Neville's Cross, f

On the death of Stratford, in the year 1348, the Chapter
of Canterbury, thinking to anticipate the wishes of the
king, before they obtained the conge d'elire, elected
Bradwardine to the vacant primatial see.

The king resented this irregularity on the part of the
chapter, and, in order to punish the monks of Christ
Church, he gave his sanction to what was a much more
dangerous invasion of his prerogative! He requested the
pope to supersede the election of the chapter, and to
appoint John de Ufford by provision. He thus counte
nanced a proceeding against which his government had
protested. What Edward desired was to have the ap
pointment of the archbishop in his own hands ; he was
regardless of the means by which his end should be
accomplished, whether through the chapter or by papal
provision. His nomination of Ufford showed that, although
it was inconvenient for him to part with Bradwardine at
this precise time, he intended to advance the latter to the
primacy ere long ; for Ufford. — a distinguished statesman
who had rendered good service to the king, — was, at
this time, an aged and paralytic man. He received the
temporalities on the 14th of December, 1348 ; but before
his consecration, on the 20th of May, he died of the

* Ang, Sac. i. 42 : " Ipsumregem et exercitum suum salubribus monitis
docuit et exemplis, adeo quod solius Dei potentia et non in multi-
tudine armatorum Rex Anglite tandem liabuit victoriam scmulorum."

f Barnes, 385.

104 LIVES OF THE

pestilence which for several months had devastated Eng
land. His death occurred at Tottenham. He was privately
buried at Canterbury.*

On the death of Ufford, all parties agreed in the
appointment of Thomas Bradwardine. The chapter ap
plied for the conge d'elire, which was sent to them, with
the recommendation, that they should elect Thomas. The
pope issued a bull, which the king was not careful to
peruse, in which he virtually superseded the election of
the chapter, and appointed Thomas by provision, — the
term now used to imply simply a papal nomination.^

Bradwardine being abroad, at the time of his nomina
tion, and being anxious to return as speedily as possi
ble to England, repaired to Avignon for consecration.
Everything was transacted there, with as little delay rs
possible.

The papal court at Avignon was entirely French, anl
though the pope only yielded to circumstances in obeying
the commands of Edward HI., his proceedings caused no
little annoyance to his friends. They could not hav3
advised him to act otherwise, than he did, but they found
a petty consolation, in evincing their anti- Anglican feeling
whenever an opportunity occurred. Amidst all its extra
vagance, and we may add its profligacy, there was a want
of refinement and an absence of dignity and decorum,
in the court of Clement. The pope himself had said
petulantly, that if the king of England were to ask him

* Rot. Glaus. 19 Edw. III. p. 1. m. 10. Mr. Foss speaks of him as
Archbishop of Canterbury ; but archbishop he never was. The nexi
primate Islip received dilapidations from Ufford 's brother, because
John de Ufford had been put in possession of the temporalities, anc
had not paid the dilapidations to his immediate successor, Bradwar
dine.

•f " Per electionem canonicam et per provisionem Apostolicam succes-
sit," Ang. Sac. i. 42. This was done, more solito, by Clement VI. See
Life of Islip, chapter xii.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. ^ 105

to make a bishop of a jackass, he could not say him CHAP.
nay. • — -^- —

The cardinals were indignant and angry. The saying Bradwar-
rankled in their minds, and one of them, a near kinsman ^*-
of the pope, Hugo, Cardinal of Tudela, had the exceeding
bad taste, as we should consider it, to seize the oppor
tunity of Bradwardine's consecration to rebuke the pope,
and insult the English. The consecration took place on
the 19th of July, 1349. The pope gave an entertain
ment upon the occasion. Suddenly, in the midst of the
festivities, the doors of the saloon were thrown open, and
a clown seated on a jackass made his appearance, with a
humble petition that he might be made Archbishop of
Canterbury.

Practical jokes are always dangerous. Their success
depends, not on the humour of him who makes them, but
of him upon whom they are practised. Clement saw, at
once, the folly of offering an insult to the king and people
of England ; and he felt the impropriety of turning into
ridicule, one of the most learned, pious, and conscientious
divines of the age, especially upon an occasion which, by
the Doctor Profundus at least, would be regarded as most
solemn. By a frown from the pope the jocose cardinal
was rebuked; and the other members of the sacred
college, taking their cue from their chief, obliterated the
folly of one of their colleagues, by the respect which they
vied with one another, in showing to the most learned
archbishop.*

Bradwardine hastened to England, where the pestilence,

* Having mentioned the weakness and frivolity of Clement VI., it
is only an act of justice to mention, that when the Black Plague was
desolating Europe, he showed commiseration for the sufferers, and
issued many wise regulations. As regarded himself, he kept up con
stant fires in his palace at Avignon, and allowed no one to approach
him. Acting thus wisely, if selfishly, for his own safety, he ordered
others to follow his example.

10G LIVES OF THE

CHAP, known in history as the Black Death had already made
— ^ — • its appearance. The great and good prelate, who had

Thomas . L , , . . , i *• * r •

Bradwar- known how to administer the consolations of religion to
i™g the wounded in the camp, and to the dying on the field
of battle, regarded the post of danger as the post of
honour.

The pestilence which, in the fourteenth century, de
vastated Asia, Europe, and Africa, has been identified, from
the accounts handed down to us of its symptoms and
effects, with the glandular plague still, from time to time,
making its appearance in the East.*

There were the same inflammatory boils and tumours
of the glands, such as break forth in no other febrile
diseases, and these, indicatory of putrid decomposition,
assumed the appearance of black spots upon the skin,
and gave to the terrible visitation, in the northern king
doms of Europe, the name of the Black Death. In many
cases black spots, wa-vsp crr/y^ara jueAava, broke out all over
the body, either single, or united and confluent. It was
so contagious, that every spot which the sick had touched,
their breath, their clothes, spread the disease. Even the

* A concise account of the Black Death is given by Hecker in 1 is
"Epidemics of the Middle Ages," which is translated, with some valualle
observations of his own, by Dr. Babington. Hecker is indebted to
Barnes, who gives his references to original authorities. The facts
which the industry of Barnes selected are scientifically arranged by
Hecker. The most important description of the disease itself is th.it
given by the Emperor Kantakuzenos, who died of it at Constantinoph.
Joann. Cantacuzen. Historiar. iv. 8. One is surprised at the aster c
and telluric speculations of Hecker, made in the style of the fourteenth
rather than of the nineteenth century. No plague can be mentioned with -
out a reference to Thucydides. Barnes refers to Thucydides as no mea i
authority, whom it is not beneath him, Joshua Barnes, to follow,
and of whom he says, that he wrote elegantly of the Plague of Athens.
See also Knyghton, Walsingham, Stow, and Wood. To these autho -
rities I am indebted for what is stated of the Black Death in this and
the following chapter.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 107

eyes of patients, in their distortion and unusual lustre, CHAP.
according to a French writer,* were considered as sources > _^_

P • Thomas

Of COntaglOn. Bradwar-

It is remarkable that although this plague had made j^ne.
its appearance in the East in 1333, fifteen years before it
broke out in Europe ; having walked in its darkness from
China to the Atlantic, and having desolated a large
portion of the world ; yet no precautions had been taken
against its occurrence, either in England or in France.
The public, in its indolence rather than apathy, were
contented with being amused or alarmed by the most
absurd reports circulated by friars and travellers. Stories
were told of earthquakes, comets, and meteors ; fiery
beams and other coruscations in the air ; a pillar of fire
hovering near the papal palace at Avignon ; a fire-ball
seen in sunset over Paris; of ensanguined showers, of
the sun eclipsed, and of the moon assuming the appear
ance of blood. At Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire, a
monstrous serpent was found, having two heads, with
faces like women, one being shaped so as to resemble a
new tire, which had just come into fashion. It had large
wings, like those of a flitter-mouse or bat.f

So hypochondria fancies represent
Ships, armies, battles in the firmament,
Till steady eyes the exhalations solve,
And all to the first matter, clouds, resolve.

While the people opened their ears, and greedily

* Mezeray, Histoire de France, Paris, 1685, fol. I. ii. p. 418.
Hecker, 51, remarks that, so far back as the age of Plato, a knowledge
of the contagious powers and malignant inflammations of the eye, of
which, also, no physician in the middle ages entertained a doubt, was
general among the people ; yet in modern times surgeons have filled
volumes with partial controversies on this subject. " Lippitudo conta-
gione spectantium oculos afficit," Chalin de Vinario, 149.

f Stow, 247.

108 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, regaled on these absurd stories, the towns were left in

^ — ' such a condition as almost to court the pestilence when

Bradwar- it approached our shores. With few exceptions, die
^JJJ1 towns and cities were narrowly built — they were kepi- in
a filthy state ; they were surrounded by stagnant ditches ;
and the houses were close, without ventilation. Instead
of destroying vermin, there were fanatics who considered
dirt to be meritorious.

The black plague made its first appearance in England
in the month of August, 1348. It lingered, at first, on
the coasts of Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Somersetshire.
Few cases occurred in London before the September of
thiit year. Until the death of U fiord, there was, indeed,
no very great alarm in the metropolis. Even then there
was no suspension of public business. It is to be
remarked, that, throughout Europe, the upper classes of
society were, for the most part, exempted from t ic
disease, owing, probably, to their greater cleanliness and
their better food.

Such was the state of the country, when Bradwardine
hastened to return to it. He felt no alarm. The God
who protected him on the field of battle, was equal y
present to support him in the plague-stricken house. I e
determined not merely to say to his clergy, " Go," but 1 e
was prepared to lead the way to the abodes of sickness,
sorrow and death, saying, " Come on." But his pious
resolutions were not to be accomplished. He landed tit
Dover on the 19th of August. Here he was cordially
welcomed by the people ; and, the plague not having
made its appearance in the town, he accepted an invitatio i
to a public dinner given at the castle. He then hastened
to do homage to the king, who held his court at Elthair-.
Passing through Chartham and Dartford, he arrived at
Eltham, on the 22nd, where he received the temporal*
from the king. Thence he proceeded, at once, to London,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 109

where the plague had already made its appearance. He
did not go to the archiepiscopal manor house, the present
palace, but stopped at La Place, the residence in Lambeth Bradwar-
of the Bishop of Eochester. The Bishop of Eochester was ^"®-
a kind of vicar to the Archbishop of Canterbury, perform
ing the duties of the diocese, when the Primate was engaged
in provincial business, or in state affairs. The archbishop
stayed here, to make the necessary regulations for the
management of the diocese, and perhaps, also, because
his own house was not furnished for his reception. The
morning after his arrival, he had a slight feverish attack.
He attributed it to fatigue ; and when he consulted his
physicians, they felt no anxiety, for no unfavourable
symptoms had shown themselves. His pulse was good,
and his placid countenance indicated no sign of danger;
but, before night returned, alarm was felt throughout La
Place. There was a swelling of the glands ; tumours
made their appearance on the groin, under the armpits,
and behind the ear. The plague-spot was upon the
dying man. Black pustules or carbuncles were seen.
He felt a burning thirst, but the blackened tongue refused
to be moistened. That tongue, so often employed, by the
Divine Comforter to speak comfortably to the sinner's
heart, was paralysed. In silence, he received the last
offices of the Church from his chaplains. Symptoms of
cephalic affection followed. He was stupefied. The
mortification of his bowels had commenced. The pre
cise moment of his death was not known. His alarmed
attendants shrunk back from the couch, when they found
that they could no longer give assistance to their friend
and master. But they soon returned to a sense of their
duty, and, in the fervour of their love and gratitude, defied
the danger. He died on the 26th of August, and we should
have supposed that, for fear of infection, they would have
buried him on the spot. But all fears were absorbed in

110 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the desire of doing honour to one so worthy of respect
— rl — ' as Bradwardine ; and the Chapter of Canterbury claimed
the privilege of giving the rites of sepulture to one who,
though his name does not appear in the Calendar, was,
in very truth, a saint.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. Ill

CHAPTER XII.

SIMON ISLIP.*

Simon's gigantic stature. — Place of birth and education doubtful. —
Patronized by Stratford and Burghersh. — Early Preferments. — A
Lawyer. — Dean of Arches. — Privy Councillor. — Private Secretary
to the King. — Penuriousness. — Peculiar circumstances of his ap
pointment to the Primacy. — Consecration. — Enthronization privately
conducted.— The Black Death. — Mortality. — Effect of the Plague.
— Flagellants — Tolerant spirit of Islip. — Compromise between the
two Metropolitans about carrying the Cross. — Moral effects of the
great mortality. — The Jubilee. — Its fatal consequences. — English
prohibited from attending. — Increasing hostility of Rome on the part
of the Commons. — Attempt to restrict the Clergy and clerical duties.
— Sudden increase of Clergy. — Islip's Constitutions. — His writings.
— Provincial visitation. — Controversy with the Bishop of Lincoln. —
Contradictory Papal Bulls. — Difficulties at Oxford. — Provisions. —
Statutes of Provisors. — Statute of Praemunire. — Violation of the
Statutes by the King and Prince of Wales. — Case of Bishop Stretton.
— Controversy with the Black Prince. — Case of Bishop Lylde. —
Order of the Garter. — Ceremonial on the release of King John. —
Islip's benefactions. — Founds Canterbury Hall. — Statutes of the
same. — Paralytic seizure. — Died at Mayfield.

THE life of Archbishop Bradwardine was the history CHAP.
of the man. During his episcopate of a few weeks' . X^I-
duration, nothing was done or attempted of public ^[Jon

1349-6G.

* Authorities. I refer generally to Birchington, and the Dies
Obituales Archiepisc. Cantuar. It is difficult to obtain authorities for
the biographies of this period. The Chronicle under the name of
Walsingham, and the Chronicles of Murimuth, Capgrave, &c., give
little more than the accessions to the primacy and the dates of their
occurrence.

112 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, importance. The statement is reversed when our subject
— ,-L-x relates to Simon Islip. The public events which, during
SisHpn his tenure of office, took place were of vast importance,
1349-66. jn regarc[ to ecclesiastical as well as civil affairs ; but of
his personal history little is known, except what relates
to his gigantic stature. If the stone coffin or cyst which
was discovered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1787, in the
immediate vicinity of his tomb, contained, as is con
jectured, the body jof Simon Islip, he must have been a
man considerably above six feet in height,*

It is said that he was born at Islip in Oxfordshire, but
the only evidence of the fact is his name.f According to
Wood, he was one of the many great men who, at tl is
period, added to the fame of Merlon College.

He had for his patrons two distinguished statesmen
and lawyers, Archbishop Stratford, with whom the reader
is acquainted, and Henry Burgh ersh, Bishop of Lincoln J
Burgh ersh had been appointed High Treasurer soon after

* On raising the pavement in Canterbury Cathedral, a stone coff n
•was found in 1787, at a small distance from the tomb of Archbishcp
Islip. The lid, it is supposed, was stolen at the Reformation, '.'.t
fitted to the shape of the human body. The breadth at the shouldei s
was two feet; the length from shoulder to foot, six feet and time
inches ; from out to out, six feet ten inches. Stone coffins were m t
in general use at this period ; but an old fashion may have bee i
observed at the interment of an archbishop. The bones had been dis
turbed ; the skull was broken, and lay on the breast ; the teeth wer 3
perfect.

f Hastcd's Canterbury, 327.

J Henry Burghersh was the son of Robert, Lord Burghersh, and
brother to Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh. He was educated at Oxford.
lie was appointed Lord Treasurer in 1327, and Lord Chancellor ii
1328. In 1329 he accompanied the king to France, and was fre
quently employed throughout the reign of Edward III. in a diplomatic
capacity. He had a stall in York Cathedral, and in his thirtieth year.
July 20, 1320, he was consecrated to the see of Lincoln. He died at
Ghent, December 4, 1340. Ang. Sac. i. 21, 30, 374, 7GG.

AECHBISIIOrS OF CAXTEKBURY. 113

the accession of Edward III., and was Lord High Chan- CHAP.

• XII

cellor in 1328. By Bishop Burgh ersh, Simon Islip was > — -^-l—
collated to the archdeaconry of Stow in 1332, and to a i™™
canonry of his cathedral of Lincoln in 1338. In the 1349-66-
year before, 1337, he had been appointed vicar-general of
the diocese. He was also a canon of St. Paul's.

Simon Islip, however, though a pluralist to this extent,
devoted himself, not to the discharge of his spiritual
duties, but to the service of his country, as a lawyer. By
Archbishop Stratford he was made dean of the Arches —
an important office, which we have seen to be held
frequently, as the first step in the ascent to high honours
in Church and State. Through the same interest he was
brought under the notice of the king, and became a
member of the privy council. He rose rapidly in the
royal favour. He was appointed private secretary to
Edward, and had the custody of the privy seal.* At
the time of Bradwardine's death, he was one of " the
king's clerks."

Although Islip was a man very different from Brad-
wardine, the one being inclined to the contemplative,
and the other to the active life, still there was much in
common between them. They both attempted to unite
the two classes of duty, though, in doing so, the inclina
tion, sacrificed by the one party, differed from that, which
was made to lead to a sense of what was right, by the
other. Both were men of piety, but Islip failed in that
consideration for the feelings of others, which was a
characteristic of Bradwardine, who, though a strict, dis
ciplinarian, was universally beloved. The misery which
ensued from the extravagance of Edward III. in early
life, and the difficulties in which the keeper of his privy

* " Portitor Sigilli privati Regis et ejus Secretarius, homo quidem
Deo devotus et liominibus gratiosus," Ang. Sac. i. 43. " Magister Simon
de Islip ciifitos sigilli Regis secret!," Foedera, ad an. 1347.
VOL. IV. I

114 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, purse was involved, induced Islip, to form habits of very

^—s strict economy ; and this, when lie became archbishop,

Mip0 was regarded as penuriousness. His unwillingness to
66- give was accompanied by an eagerness to appropriate to
his own use, any funds, upon which he could establish
a claim.

His appointment to the see of Canterbury is memorable
as an era. We have seen how gradually the popes had
been encroaching on the rights of the chapters and of the
king ; and how, in the disputes between chapters and
kings, especially when kings had private ends to serve,
the popes found opportunity to establish precedents of
interference, which, when once established, it becane
difficult to set aside. No pope had ever been a greater
aggressor, in this respect, than Clement VI. When a
remonstrance was addressed to him, for assuming rights
and powers his predecessors had never enforced, or
perhaps claimed, his answer was, that, if this were the
case, he could only say, that his predecessors knew n >t
how to act as pope. In the appointment of Ufforl,
Clement introduced into the bull of confirmation, the
expression " providet ei Johanni ; " in the appointment
of Bradwardine, the appointment was stated to be "per
Electionem Canonicam et per provisionem Apostolical n
successit." But now the bull, which appointed Simon Islip
assumed a power hitherto unheard of, and which, pro
bably, would have been immediately resented if persor s
had troubled themselves to read or to criticise public
documents.. The archbishop was appointed " per pro
visionem Apostolicam spreta elections facta de eo" *

The statute of Pro visors, to which we shall have occa
sion to refer presently, passed in 1351 ; and, no doubt,
when it was under discussion, attention was called to this
bull ; for we find, that from this period a system was

* Reg. Lambeth.

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 115

devised, which, after the condemnation of the papal CHAP.
proceedings by the law of the land, saved the dignity of « — -^_
all parties in episcopal appointments. The same forms /^
being retained which had been in use since the reign of 1349-66-
John, the reality of the appointment returned to the king.
When a see became vacant, the king, together with the
conge delm, notified to the chapter what person he
would accept ; in other words, he nominated the new
bishop. He also, by letter to the pope requested, that the
same person might be appointed by provision. With
equal subserviency, the chapters elected and the pope
provided.*

The consecration of Islip took place at St. Paul's, on
the 20th of December, 1349. He received the pall from
the hands of the Bishop of Winchester, at Esher, on the
25th of March, 1350. His enthronization, at Canterbury,
was conducted in a private and inexpensive manner.
This was, in after times, adduced as a proof of his niggardly
disposition. But the charitable is probably the truer
supposition ; namely, that he would not incur the respon
sibility of bringing together a vast concourse of people at
a time, when the Black Death was devastating the country.
The noble and wealthy, moreover, secluded themselves to
avoid contagion ; and therefore, even if Islip had wished it,
it would have been impossible to conduct the ceremonial
with the magnificence usual on such occasions.

Of the first appearance of the Black Death, and of the
symptoms, which induce modern physicians to pronounce

* By a concordat in 1374, the pope undertook to refrain from
reservations, and the king undertook to make no more appointments
by writ of Quare impedit. But the effect of this was defeated, one way
or other, and the general issue was as stated above. The pope, how
ever, still reserved his power with respect to translations, notwith
standing the remonstrances of the civil authorities. Translations,
hitherto rare, henceforth became frequent.

i 2

116 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, it to have been the Bubo-plague of the East, in its most
, ,-L— - virulent form, we have already spoken in the life of

SM& Bradwardine. So rapid and fatal was its progress, that
1349-66. after making due allowance for the miscalculation of
chroniclers, who had no official census, by which to test
or to check their statements ; Dr. Babington does not hesi
tate, to assume, that one quarter, at least, of the population
of the old world was swept away, in the short space of
four years, and that some countries, England among the
rest, lost more than double that proportion of their inhabi
tants.* Hecker states, that it may be assumed, without
exaggeration, that Europe lost, during the Black Deati,
25,000,000 of inhabitants.!

In London, it is said, that the deaths amounted to or e
hundred thousand. In one burial ground, fifty thousand
corpses were arranged, in layers, in large pits.J

* Pref. to Hecker, xxii.

f Hecker, 29.

J This number is given in an inscription, still existing in the tin e
of Stow. Ralph Stratford, Bishop of London, in 1348, purchased a
piece of ground called No Man's Land, which he set apart and conse
crated for the burial of the dead. There was on it a mortuary
chapel, which in Stow's time had been converted into a residence ; the
cemetery being " a fair garden," though retaining the name of Pardo i
Churchyard. And at the same time, Sir Walter Manny bought som3
land adjoining to No Man's Land, near St. John's Street, called Spittb
Croft without the Bars, West Smithfield. This was also consecrated
by the Bishop of London. There was a stone cross on the spot, on
which Stow read the following inscription: " Regnante magnapesti-
lentia consecratum fuit hoc ccemeterium, in quo et intra septa prae •
sentis Monasterii sepulta fuerunt mortuorum corpora plusquam quin -
quaginta millia, prrcter alia multa abhinc usque ad prcesens. Quorum
animabus propitietur Deus. Amen." Here he intended, at first, to
found a college for a Dean and twelve secular priests ; but changing
his mind, he established, in 1370, a Carthusian priory. At the dis
solution of monasteries the land was sold ; and, at length, passed into tin
hands of Thomas Sutton, the munificent founder of the noble establish-
lishmcnt which is now known as the Charterhouse in London. New-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 117

The character of the visitation becomes more awful, CHAP.
when we learn, that it did its terrible work in England, » — -^_
within the compass of one year. It lingered longer on i^
the Continent, especially in Italy. But although the 1349-6G-
courts of justice and parliament were closed for some
time longer, yet in England, men returned to their ordinary
modes of life soon after the expiration of the first year.
This may, in part, be attributable to the circumstance, that,
while in many parts of the Continent, there had been a
scarcity of food, in England there was a superabundance
of all the necessaries of life. The murrain among the
cattle did not precede, it followed, the plague.

The effect of the pestilence was such, as is always the
case. Nominal Christians, released from all moral re
straint, became desperately wicked ; an awful example
of what human nature is, apart from law and grace. All
social and moral bonds were loosed. On the other hand,
wherever there was faith, though it were but as a grain
of mustard seed, it was soon developed into godliness of
living, producing fruit according to the nature of the soil
on which it was sown. Transgressors became penitents,
and as the manner of the age was, they subjected them
selves to all manner of torture ; the weak-minded became
enthusiasts ; sober-minded Christians proved themselves,
by their conduct, to be saints.

The Black Death gave rise to a peculiar form of devotion ;
and an order of enthusiasts was created, who assumed the
title of Flagellants or whippers. They made their first
appearance in Hungary, but became an organized society

court, i. 579 ; Barnes, 43G ; Pennant, 203. The difficulty of providing
for the interment of the dead was universal. At Avignon, the pope
consecrated the Rhone, that the dead bodies might be thrown into the
river without delay ; Torfa?us, as cited in Ilecker, 24. In many
places it was rumoured, that plague patients were buried alive, as may
sometimes happen through senseless alarm and indecent haste. Ibid,

118 LIVES OF THE

at Pirna. We thence trace one detachment of them to
Magdeburg, which town they entered on the 17th of
April, 1349 ; and another to Wiirzburg, on the second of
May. In June, two hundred of them appeared at Spires.
In Denmark and Holland they had many followers. A
detachment landed in England, in the spring of 1350.
Although they were received by the people with sympathy,
admiration, and respect, it does not appear that to their
system many converts were made in this country. They
proceeded by slow journeys to the metropolis. They
entered every town and village in solemn procession, and
preached to the people. Although they were attended
by large crowds, they caused neither tumult nor con
fusion.

On arriving in London, they formed a procession to
St. Paul's. They afterwards visited the other churches.
They were robed in sombre garments. On their breasts
and on their backs, as well as upon their caps, reel crosses
were displayed. They had, each in his hand, a three-corded
whip, through the knotted thongs of which, iron nails wer3
seen. Their eyes were fixeel upon the ground ; they
exhibited every token of contrition and mourning. Arrived
at St. Paul's, the leader took his station before the west
door, and announced their mission. A letter hael been
found, on the altar of St. Peter's Church at Jerusalem. I ;
purported to have been written by our Lord Himself. I;
hael been laid upon the altar by an angel from heaven
The letter was produced and read. It affirmed, that the
wrath of Goel had been provoked by the increasing shu
of Christendom, anel that its effects could only be averted
by the intercession of the Virgin Mary and of the mis
sionary angel himself. Their service consisted, wherever
a mission was opened, of a flagellant procession, which
was to last for thirty-four days, each day corresponding
witli the thirty-four years of our Lord's life upon earth.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 119

When the mission had been thus opened, a circle was CHAP.
formed, and each flagellant taking off his shoes and upper . — ^—^
garment, fell prostrate upon the earth. After a solemn Y™^
pause for prayer, the leader rose, and, with the iron-spiked m9-66-
whip, he administered the lash upon the bare back of the
brother who, stretched on the ground, was his nearest
neighbour. The lashed man would then arise, and, with
the dreadful instrument, he did to his next neighbour, as
he had been done by, and so all received neighbour's
fare. When the scourging was completed, each man in
the circle was on his legs. From that circle, two were
then detached, and they, going round it, lashed each other
on the back, till the blood gushed out. They returned to
their place in the circle, and two others succeeded them,
until all had, in turn, been both lashers and lashed. Their
enthusiasm was such as to make them exult in the pain ;
and that enthusiasm was sustained, by the fervour with
which they sang, in concert, hymns new, emotional and
popular, of which we give the following verse as a
specimen : —

Through love of man the Saviour came,

Through love of man He died ;
He suffered want, reproach, and shame,

Was scourged and crucified.
Oh think, then, on thy Saviour's name,
And lash, and lash, and lash again.*

At the conclusion of the hymn, there was another pause.
They fell to the ground. After a while, they rose to their
knees, smiting their breasts. Then, once more on their
feet, they recommenced the scourging ; they lashed, and
lashed, and lashed again. The scourging over, a collection
was taken from the bystanders, which was carried to
the common fund.

* L'Evcsque, 531.

120 LIVES OF; TUP:

How such enthusiasts would be treated in the nineteen tli
century, we can readily surmise from what occurred, a
few years ago, at St. George's in the East. In the great
council of the pope, there were, as in all councils, weak
and intolerant men, who care nothing about religion, so
far as they are themselves concerned ; and they declared,
that such proceedings were a disgrace to the Church, and
they called upon government to interfere. The pope, as
is often the case with governors, yielded to the pressure
from without, and sided with the fierce and powerful
against the weak and unresisting. He denounced tlie
flagellants in a bull, and hearing, that they intended to
visit England, wrote a letter to the king, calling upon him
to repel them from his shores, on their arrival; or to repress
them, if they had already appeared. A French pope, how
ever, dating his bull and letter from Avignon, was not, it
this time, likely to receive a favourable hearing in England.
The archbishop made inquiry as to the principles and pro
ceedings of the flagellants. He found, that they were an
organized society, with strict rules, which were strictly
observed. They were excluded from begging; eac'i
flagellant being allowed a certain sum for his maintenance,
equivalent to about fourpence a day. They took an oat i
of obedience to their order. On joining the society, i
married man was required to produce a permission to do
so from his wife, for union with the flagellants implied a,
conjugal divorce. He then confessed his sins, and publicly
forgave all his enemies. They numbered among them
ecclesiastics and nobles, especially from Zealand, Holland,
and Hainault, and some women.

The temper of Archbishop Islip was tolerant, and he
clearly distinguished between enthusiasm and fanaticism.
However wild or extravagant an enthusiast may be, he is
comparatively harmless, and is worthy of respect. If we
add malignity, then enthusiasm becomes fanaticism. When

AKCIIBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 121

the malignity remains, and the enthusiasm has worn itself CHAP.
out ; when the zeal, which is harmless if not a virtue, so « — rr~~"
long as we seek to establish what we believe to be true ; isiip.
evaporates into hostility to what we believe to be wrong,
and displays a hatred to the erroneous ; when men are
united by a common hatred, not by a common love — then
they are de jure, if not de facto, persecutors, whether in
Koine or in England ; whether lighting faggots in Smith-
field, or merely shooting out, in their impotence, those
bitter words, which are compared to poisoned arrows.

Archbishop Islip left the devout enthusiasts to their
own devices. Failing to be martyrs when prepared for
martyrdom, the enthusiasts themselves ceased to be
thought of, except by a few, who, admiring their unques
tionable earnestness, became themselves more earnest,
though they did not admit the necessity of writhing under
self-imposed tortures.*

Of the tolerant spirit of the archbishop another instance
may be adduced. Elizabeth, the wife of John, Earl of
Kent, had, on the death of her husband, assumed the
monastic habit, and she lived, for several years, as a nun.
But, falling in love with a man in every respect her equal,
Eustace Abricourt, she broke her monastic vow, and was
privately married. The scandal, in religious circles, was
great, and the case was brought officially before the arch
bishop. He refused to ignore or nullify the marriage.
He simply enjoined a penance on either party, and then
he permitted them to live together as man and wife.

To the conciliatory disposition of Archbishop Islip, as
well as to a change in the spirit of the age, we may attri
bute the settlement, which now took place, on a subject

* The materials for the statements given above are found in Albert
Argentinens, Chron. 149; Ordoric Rainald, 1349, § 18. Mosheim,
Edit. Stubbs, ii. 224, compared with Wulsingham, 169 ; Murimuth, 103;
Stow, 216.

122 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to which our attention has been frequently called — the
— * rights of the northern metropolitan, in the province of

isHpn Canterbury. When power was conferred by ceremonial
66< acts, and an act of ceremony was an assumption of power,
we can understand why the Archbishop of York should
contend for his right, as a primate of England, to have his
cross — the emblem of his office as a metropolitan — carried
before him, in every part of this island ; and we can also
understand, why the Archbishop of Canterbury, as primate
of all England, should resent an act, which seemed to
place his brother of York on an equality with himself.

In the fourteenth century, however, the dignitaries of
the Church were beginning to perceive that, instead of
contending for power among themselves, sound policy
dictated their union, to preserve the privileges they
already possessed, and upon which an attack was threat
ened. It was now clearly understood, that when, in
the reign of Henry III., the title of primate of all En<>
land was conceded to the see of Canterbury, the Arcl -
bishop of York being only primate of England, certai i
rights were supposed to appertain to a primate of ail
England, which the Archbishop of York did not possess
in the province of Canterbury. This point conceded,
the dispute about carrying the cross, became nearly
what modern historians too often regard it from the;
beginning — a mere dispute about a ceremony. As
such rights of the respective primates could, at this time4
be submitted to arbitration, Archbishop Islip and Arch
bishop Thoresby* selected the king as the arbitrator, and

* John Thoresby was the son of Hugh Thoresby and Isabel daugh
ter of Sir Thomas le Grose of Suffolk. He was born at Thoresby in
Wensleydale. He was of the same family as Ralph Thoresby, to
whom I was enabled, through the liberality of the late Mr. William
Gott, to erect a monument in Leeds parish church, as one of the most
eminent antiquarians of his age, an honour to a town which has pro-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 123

the king's arbitration was afterwards confirmed by the CHAP.
pope. Both Islip and Thoresby were lawyers and states- -_1-
men ; they were both of them indebted to the king for £&£
their preferments in Church and State ; of the sound
judgment and impartiality of Edward they were each of
them convinced. Neither of them was a narrow-minded
ecclesiastic, though both of them, when they had become
metropolitans, saw the necessity of withdrawing them
selves from affairs of state, as far as their gratitude and
duty to the king would permit, and of devoting them
selves to their episcopal duties. Thoresby was, moreover,
a personal friend of Clement VI. The two metropolitans

dticed many eminent men. John Thoresby was educated at Oxford.
He was patronized by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and was included in
a commission sent by Edward III. to procure the canonization of that
unfortunate nobleman. He became a clerk in Chancery. While prac
tising here he was served in open court with a monition to appear
before the pope on some appeal, when the papal messengers were
violently committed to prison. He became Master of the Kolls in
1341. In 1345 he was made Keeper of the Privy Seal. In 1349,
being then a bishop, he was appointed Chancellor. In 1355 he was
appointed one of the custodes of the kingdom, when King Edward
renewed his invasion of France. This distinguished lawyer, towards
the close of his life, became as much distinguished as an ecclesiastic. So
early as 1320, he held the living of Bramwith in Yorkshire, the duties
of which he could not peiform, as he was not in full orders, but only
an acolyte. He was incumbent of Honington in Warwickshire. He
was rector of Elwick in Durham, and of Oundle in Northampton
shire. He had a stall in Southwell, York, and Lincoln, and was
Archdeacon of London. He was consecrated Bishop of St. David's on
the 23rd of September, 1347. He was translated to Worcester in
1350, and again to York in 1373. Having served the office of chan
cellor for seven years, during four of which he had been archbishop,
he desired to retire from public life. The king, " benevole et gra-
tanter," acceded to his request, and, for the last seventeen years of his
life, he devoted himself to his episcopal functions, and became a muni
ficent benefactor to York Minster. He laid the foundation of the
Retro-chapel and the Lady Chapel. He died at Bishopthorpe, 6th Nov.
1373, and was buried at York.

124 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, met at the palace at Westminster, on the 20th of April,
1353, prepared to abide by the adjudication of the
king.* Archbishop Islip consented, that the Archbishop
of York should be permitted to bear his cross erect
within the provice of Canterbury, by which his rank as
a primate and metropolitan was asserted. Archbishop
Thoresby consented to bind his successors, within the
space of two months after their confirmation, to present, at
the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury, an image in gold
of an archbishop holding his cross ; or else some jewel of
equal value, that value being fixed at forty pounds. T.iis
was to be sent in state by the hands of their official, clu n-
cellor, auditor, or some doctor of law, or knight, f Thus
was acknowledged an undefined deference to the see of
Canterbury. In parliaments and councils, a seat on tie
right hand of the king was assigned to the Archbishop of
Canterbury; a seat on the left to the Archbishop of
York, both with their cross erect. In a procession, they
were to walk abreast, each having his cross borne. Whe i,
from the narrowness of the way, this was impossible, tl e
precedence was to be given to the Archbishop of Cante >
bury.

To the immediate consequences of " the great mortality
of 1349," such as lie upon the surface, we have alluded.

* Ang. Sac. i. 17.

f Wilkins, iii. 31, 54; Ang. Sac. i. 74, 75, conf. 77. That the
arrangement was permanent appears from the fact that William Bootl ,
Archbishop of York in 1452, sent this oblation to Canterbury by thj
hands of a knight. It is probable that the arrangement was not quit;
satisfactory to Thoresby, as the king seems to have obtained his con -
sent by bearing a portion of the expense. In the Issue Rolls of tin 5
Exchequer, 161, appears the following entry : "28 Edw. III. Oct. 9
To Richard de Grymesby, goldsmith in the Tower of London, ir
money paid to him for certain images made in honor of St. Thonuu
the Martyr, and delivered to the Revd. Father the Abp. of York, ol
the king's gift for his oblation at Canterbury, &c., £7 8s, 5rf."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 125

Bv those who look below the surface, who from causes CHAP.

"VTT

pass on to their consequences, or who trace events back >_
to their causes, this moral and physical convulsion will be £$•£
regarded as the commencement of a new era. They will 13i9-66-
see, in the Black Death, the way prepared for the present
state of European society. It set men a-thinking. That
there were thoughtful men in Europe before this is proved
by the fact that such books as the " De Causa Dei " could
find readers, and obtain the attention of students. But the
readers were found only in the schools, universities, and
monasteries. From this time, the mind was universally
awakened. Men are naturally logicians, when they per
mit themselves to think. There may be an absence of
information, or information may be incorrect, and conse
quently there may be often a mistake in the major pre
mise ; but when once we agree as to our facts, the dif
ference between the learned man, and the acute, though
illiterate mind, is very slight. The false statements made,
in the low press of the nineteenth century, are sometimes
astonishing ; but ignorance does not vitiate the powers of
ratiocination, if the premises be granted. There were from
this time, reasoners among men, whose superstitious vene
ration for tilings established had not hitherto permitted
them to exercise their minds. To meet the demand in
the mental market, Wyclif and the Lollards soon made
their appearance. The cast of thought was revolutionary,
but it was tempered by a spirit of reverence for ancient
superstitions, which prevented any sudden revolution or
violent change in the external aspect of affairs.

When death was staring men in the face, the question
was naturally asked — What are we to do to avert the
Divine wrath ? Enthusiasts, such as the flagellants, arose
to give answer to the question. An answer so stern, as
that given by their lacerated backs, was accepted by only
a few. That answer was very properly rejected by the

126 LIVKS OF THE

CHAP, papal authorities ; but another arose — What does the
pope himself advise us to do ?

The conduct of a man so sagacious as Clement VI.
undoubtedly was, when he was left to act on his own
judgment, is unaccountable. Whether he really believed,
that the plague would be averted by a pilgrimage to
Eome, made by the Western Church, each national church
being represented by the devotion of voluntary pil
grims ; or whether, the fiftieth year of the fourteenth
century having arrived, the non-resident pope had not
courage to withhold from the people of Eome the golden
harvest which for half-a-century they had been anticipating;
Clement, in the midst of the great epidemic, proclaim 3d
the Jubilee. Indulgences were granted to all who should
visit devoutly the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at
Eome, and that of St. John Lateran. The result was
what we should expect to find it. The concourse of such
large bodies of people occasioned a new eruption of the
plague ; and it was asserted, probably without much
exaggeration, that not more, than one pilgrim out of a
hundred, returned to his home. The Minorites, from
their obedience to the will of the pope, conjoined with
that ignorance which now prevailed among the grert
mass of the brethren, were among the foremost of the
pilgrims ; and of the Minorites 30,000 died in Italy. The
very report, that the great bell of St. Peter's Church
at Eome was thrown down in a thunder-storm and
almost melted; and that the deaths had been so numerous,
that the authorities were forbidden to make any return
on the subject, all combined to induce men to conclude,
that the Church, as it existed, or as it was representec.
by the pope, was not infallible.

The deeper impression was made on the English mind
by the fact, that an order of government was issued, tc
prohibit any of the king's subjects from embarking on

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 127

the pilgrimage.* We are not to suppose, that the views CHAP.
of our government were more enlightened, than those of . — -^J—
our neighbours; but there was no inclination to replenish . 'j1^
the coffers of a French pope by English gold ; and both 1349~66-
money and men, it was said, could be more profitably
employed at home. The pope remonstrated ; but his
remonstrances were made in vain. The inference to be
drawn from the fact, that the plague ceased in England,
and was renewed, with increased force, in Italy, had its
logical effect in this country.

If the Church was not infallible, it needed a guide by
which to test its judgments. If so, where was that
authority to be found ? Wiclif answered, by translating
the Bible.

From this time, hostility to Borne was the predominant
feeling among the commons of England ; and from this
time, we may date the inclination, increasing, more or
less gradually, to the period of the Reformation, to
make common cause with Rome on the part of a large
portion of the superior clergy ; although this did not ap
pear, so long as the popes remained at Avignon. From
this time, we may also date the determination of the
laity, to compel the clergy to retire from politics, and
to devote themselves to the immediate duties of their
sacred callings. Hitherto the two professions, that of
the clergyman and that of the lawyer, had been one. It
was a rare exception to the general rule, to find a lawyer
or a statesman, who was not in holy orders. The conduct
of the clergy in the various dioceses, when the terrors of the
pestilence began to subside,was such as to create the greatest
indignation among the people. They not only encouraged
litigation, but made themselves peculiarly offensive in
visiting, with legal penalties, the irregularities which,
while the plague lasted, were unavoidable. The outcry

* Knyghton, 2601.

123 LIVES OP THE

CHAP, against the clerical lawyers was such as to become
_X*]Q fanatical. It led, as we shall hereafter have to show, to
?sKpn consequences most disastrous. We may, in short, date,
1349-66. from this time the separation between the legal ;;nd
clerical professions. The separation did not take place
at once, but the feeling began now to prevail, that ilie
duties of a clergyman were, except under special circum
stances, incompatible with those of a lawyer.

The clergy who, like Chaucer's parish priest, had
confined themselves to their spiritual functions, did thoir
duty manfully. We may come to this conclusion frcm
observing, that the number of the clergy who fell victims
to the pestilence was very large. Among the upper
classes of society, or among those who, having warm
clothing, fuel for fire, and a sufficiency of wholesome
food, could avoid contagion, the plague made little havoc.
Although, therefore, many of the clergy were very poor,
yet when we find the mortality among them out of
proportion, great, we must conclude that, in administering
the last consolations of religion to the sick, they did not
fear to expose themselves to contagion. But, owing to
the secular training of a large portion of the clergy, there
was not a sufficient number of devoted and intelligent
parish priests to meet the demand. There was, in point
of fact, so great a scarcity of clergymen, that the bishops
were obliged to admit into holy orders, almost any on- 3
who would undertake any portion of ministerial o*
pastoral duty. Vast numbers of laymen, in the firs:
impulses of religious enthusiasm, having lost their wives,
crowded into holy orders.* They were many of them
we are told, entirely ignorant, but they made up by piety,
and by sympathy with the poor, for their want of learn
ing. Some, when the first fervours of religion wore off.
relapsed into evil habits, and consequently it became

* Stow's Survey, 8G and 252.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 120

necessary to put in force all the discipline of the Church ; CHAP.
and even to make new regulations and laws. But, s-X*L-.
however that may have been, a new body of men f^™
had now been called into existence : a body prepared 134°-C6-
to receive, in due time, the teaching of Wiclif and his
followers. These were men of zeal and piety ; they
were not attached to the teaching of schools, and were
generally contemned by the school-men. They had
sufficient learning to be able to read, what Wiclif and
his followers wrote in the vernacular language. They
were not attached to the Church by worldly interests, for
they were not qualified to rise to the higher preferments.
They participated with the commonalty in their hatred of
the pope. In the earnestness, with which they discharged
their duties, they occupied the position in society, which
had been formerly occupied by the Franciscans ; and this,
at a time, when the practice of the mendicants had so
degenerated, as to make them the laughing-stock of the
people; and to excite the indignation of pious and earnest
men, such as Archbishop Fitzralph and John Wiclif.

At such a period, Simon Islip was called to the primacy
of our Church. He understood, at once, the difficulties of
his situation, and determined to devote all the powers of
his mind to the duties of his station. His was evidently,
though a stern, yet an honest and upright mind ; but
although he had discernment to perceive the existence of
the disease, he did not possess the genius to prescribe the
remedy. He could not go to the root of the evil, or
penetrate the depth and character of the disorder. The
idea never crossed his mind, that there was anything
in the doctrine of the Church requiring amendment ;
he had regard exclusively to its faulty administration.
That the salt had lost its savour, and needed to be
replenished, was to be the discovery of a later generation.
He looked upon things with the eye of a lawyer and

VOL. IV. K

130 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, statesman ; and the late secretary of state and keeper
X*L ^ of the privy seal prepared to set his house in order, with

iln°n ^ie ^u^ convicti°n5 ^iat there must be a good understatid-
1349-66. ing between himself and the king.

As an ecclesiastical legislator, Islip is entitled to hold
a high place. He united with a conservative spirit a
disposition, which would encourage, while, at the same
time, it regulated progress. He published certain consti
tutions in 1351, in 1359, and again in 1362. Although
we shall have to return to the consideration of his primary
visitation, it may be expedient to consider these together.
These constitutions resemble, to some extent, a modern
episcopal charge, with one important difference. A modern
bishop can only state what the law is, and how far he is
prepared to carry out its enactments. An archbishop, in
the fourteenth century, could himself, while stating tie
law, make such additions to it as might meet a present
exigence. He was a lawgiver within certain limits. He
might make a law, so far as it did not infringe a statute,
or violate the principles of the common law of the Chris
tian Church.

Complaint was made of the inadequacy of the punish
ment inflicted upon delinquent clergy, and upon that
large body of offenders who claimed benefit of clergy.

It was also said, that the judges, in the Spiritual Courts,
were too lenient in the punishments, which they assigned ;
it was added, that the prisons, to which offenders weie
committed, were rendered too comfortable. The coi :..-
trast between them and the miserable dungeons of the
common gaols was indeed remarkable ; and perhaps, i i
these days, we should have recommended a reform in
the direction opposite to that which was proposed. Th 3
archbishop, however, informs the clergy,* that he and his

* " Liters Archiepiscopi Cant, pro clericis incarceratis ad aspe-
ram poenam ponendis." Ex Reg. Islip. fol. 54. a, collat. cum MS. Coll.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 131

suffragans, in a late parliament, had taken the whole sub- CHAP.
ject into their serious consideration. They were fearful, ^_X*L_.
lest the abuse of ecclesiastical liberty, which existed to ^™™
such an extent, as to cause quite a commotion in the 1349-66.
country, should turn to the prejudice of clerical privilege;
and they had therefore come to a resolution, that delin
quent clerks should, for the future, be closely imprisoned,
according to the quality of the persons and the heinous-
ness of the crimes. Begulations were made, that prisoners
should, on every Wednesday, Friday, and Sabbath-day
(Saturday), be only allowed, once a day, the bread and
water of affliction ; on other days, bread and small beer ;
on the Lord's day (Sunday, as distinguished from the
Sabbath), bread, beer, and pulse, for the honour and
eminence of that day.

In these regulations and arrangements, there is certainly
no tendency to luxurious living.

As may be seen from other regulations, Islip was a
strict observer of the Lord's day, which was not, until
later and for party purposes, called the Sabbath.

The constitution of 1359, was issued at a time, when
King Edward III. set sail for France, with eleven hundred
transports, conveying the most numerous and best ap
pointed army, that had sailed from the coast of England
for more than a century. A royal writ was addressed to
the archbishop and his suffragans, " de orando pro rege et
regno." The constitution was a mandate of the primate,
addressed to " our venerable brother, the Lord Michael,
by the grace of God, Bishop of London," to be by him
transmitted, with all possible speed, to " our fellow bishops
and suffragans of Canterbury ;" by which they were
required to enjoin their subjects to pray for the success
of the expedition. An indulgence of fourteen days was

B. M. Magdal. Oxon. n. 185. Spelman, ii. 597. Lynd. App. 54.
Wilkins, iii. 13.

K 2

132 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, granted to all, who should obey the injunction. No par-
_xn' ^ ticular form of prayer was published. The archbishop

to each man, in his private devotions, offered in the
1349-66, Church, to perform the duty, in any manner convenient
to himself. He states, that although it is provided, by t lie
sanction of the laws of the land, as well as the canons of
the Church, that all Lord's days should be religiously
observed from eve to eve ; yet, to his heart's grief, he was
informed, that a detestable, yea, damnable perverseness
existed on the subject ; insomuch that, in many places,
markets were held, not only for victuals, but for other ne
gotiations — which, he says, can scarcely be without frauds
and deceits ; that unlawful meetings of men, who neglected
their churches, various tumults, and other occasions of
evil, took place ; that revels, drunkenness, and many othor
dishonest doings were practised ; that thence, proceeded
quarrels and scolds, threats and blows, and sometimes
murder; that these iniquities prevailed to such an extent,
that the main body of the people flocked to thet-e
markets — by which the Devil's power was increased.
He was told, that in the holy churches — wrhere the God
of Peace is to be sought, and where His anger is appease- 1
—the worship of God and of the saints had, too often anl
in too many places, ceased through the absence of the
faithful ; that the sacred mysteries were contemned ; that
the mutual interchange of support in prayer was with
drawn. All this tended, he observed, to the great decay
of reverence towards God and His Church, the grievous
peril of souls, and the manifest scandal and contempt
of Christianity. Wherefore he strictly commanded IIH
brother of London, and, through him, his othe*
suffragans, to take effectual measures for correcting this
abuse.*

* "Mandatum Archiepiscopi Cantuar. de exorando pro rege, et regru
et do observando dies dominicos." Ex Reg. Islip. fol. 150, b. — Spelman
ii. 599. Lynd. App. 55. Wilkins, iii. 42.

ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 133

Another constitution of Islip, issued in 1362, reveals an CHAP.

XTT

extraordinary state of things, and the deplorable condition > — -^L^
of the Church. According to Lyndwood, no clergyman fs™£n
could, at this time, be required to resign a lucrative secular 1349~66-
employment, in order that he might undertake any
spiritual duty, unless the income, accruing from his
ecclesiastical preferment, was equivalent to the salary he
was receiving for the service, in which he happened to be
engaged ; even though that service had reference only to
the things of this world, and was of a temporary nature.
This view of things was in perfect accordance with those
principles, to which especial reference has been made in
the introductory chapter. A clergyman felt himself at
liberty to serve God and the king, the Church and the
state, in any office whatsoever, to which he might be
called by the providence of God, acting through the will
of the sovereign. But Islip, who himself had acted on
this principle, perceived the injury done to the cause of
religion, and, without repudiating the principle, declared
that it had been abused. He stated — " that priests, now-
a-days, through covetousness or love of ease, not content
with reasonable salaries, demanded and received excessive
pay for their labour."

The lawyers and statesmen being ordained, accepted
preferments instead of salaries, or as an addition to salaries
inadequate to sustain them in that magnificence, of which
in those times much account was taken. To the property,
with which they were thus invested, certain duties were
attached. These duties they would perform, whenever
they fell into disgrace at court, and on certain other
occasions, when, wearied of the world, they passed into
retirement. But when they were actively employed by
the state, they engaged the inferior clergy to perform the
duties, which pertained to the parochial and pastoral
office. Many, however, of the inferior clergy had found,
as we have seen, a more lucrative employment, by acting

134 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, as lawyers in the spiritual courts ; or, if they were

^ xn'_- contented with a moderate income, by the performance

idi°n °f annuana5 °r daily masses said for a year in behalf

1349-66. of certain persons or families.* These persons received
the payment made for performance of these routine
duties ; and, contented therewith, refused to engage in
pastoral work, unless the beneficed clergy provided them
with an amount of salary, which was, by those who were
called to pay, regarded as excessive. There was on the
part of the inferior clergy, what we may call a strike. The
consequence was, as Islip states, that many parish churcl es
and chapels remained, without any clergyman, invest 3d
with a cure of souls, to officiate. Instead of seeking to
remedy the evil, by attacking the non-resident benefi
ciaries, Islip aims his censures against, not the non
resident rectors, but the unbeneficed clergy. He not
only resists their demand for an increase of salary, bat
accuses them, where their salaries happened, in any case,
to be high, of misapplying their comparative wealt!i.
" They discharged their intemperance in vomit and lust,
they grew bold, and drowned themselves in the abyss of
vice, to the great scandal of ecclesiastics and the evil
example of laymen." He ordained, therefore, that any
clergyman, who had the privilege of saying private masses
or annualia, in any particular church, might be compelled
by his diocesan, or by any ordinary judge, competent ii
this respect, to perform the pastoral work of the paris'i
at a moderate salary ; or else, that he should be deprived
of his right to officiate in the church at all. The primato
limits the salary of priests, who celebrated annuals without
cure of souls, to five marks a year. He limited the salary
of those, who were willing to undertake a cure of souls,

* Annualia, or annals, were masses said, every day, for a year, or
behalf of a deceased person ; trentals were said, every day, for thirt)
days ; triennials, every day, for three years.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 135

together with the anriualia, to six marks a year, with CHAP.
powers for the diocesan to increase the salary, if the . — _.

• 111 * Simon

parish be large.* Islip>

Islip legislated, as an aristocrat, in favour of the aristo- 1349~66-
cratic portion of the Church. All that he felt called upon
to do, was to see, that the work was properly performed.
By whom the work was done, this was no consideration
with him. The parochial clergy were not regularly
employed in preaching. They had too often permitted
the duty of preaching to devolve upon the mendicants.
The demand was not, therefore, at that time, as it would
be with us, for parish .priests, who could preach. That
could be done by the Dominicans. What was required
was respectable clergymen, to do the routine duty in the
Church, and to administer the consolations of religion to
the sick, the sorrowing, and the dying. The proper course
to have been pursued would have been, to compel the
non-resident beneficiaries to provide larger salaries for
their deputies ; but legislators are generally on the side
of the strong against the weak. Islip legislated on this
subject very much in the same spirit as the present
parliament would legislate for strikes. It was assumed
that the weaker party must be wrong.

These constitutions, evidently composed by the arch
bishop himself, present him to us favourably in the
character of an author. His contemporary, John Thoresby,
Archbishop of York, was admired for the elegance of
his latinity. Such praise we cannot claim for Archbishop
Islip. It can seldom, indeed, be applied to those who
employed the latin language as if it were a living language ;
and, consequently, felt themselves at liberty to coin words,
for the expression of ideas, to which the Romans, before

* Constitutio venerabilis domini Simonis Islip Cantuar. Archiepiscopi,
edita apud Lambethe, A.D. 1362. Ex MS. Cott. Otho, 15, fol. 135.
Wilkins, iii. 50. Lynd. App. 56. Lyndwood, 238. Spelman, ii. 610.

136 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, their conversion, were strangers. But of Islip it may be

,-L— * said, that he wrote as a man who meant what he said ;

and who intended that there should be no doubt of his
meaning. One of the archbishop's writings had a very
large circulation, if we may judge from the number of
copies still existing in manuscript.

The extravagance and reckless expenditure of Edward
III., of which we have had instances in the life of Arch
bishop Stratford, continued throughout his reign, and were
from time to time bringing successive administrations into
difficulties. Upon this subject, and upon the abuses of
the royal court and household, the archbishop addressed
a remonstrance to the king, beginning " Domine mi Eex
utinam saperes."* The boldness and the sound reasoning
of the archbishop procured for him the admiration of his
contemporaries ; and the work is sufficient to show th&t,
like an honest man, a true patriot, and a considerate
churchman, he did not shrink from his duty, however
unpleasant that duty might be. If, as we have seen, te
endeavoured to compel the humblest of those who weie
placed under his jurisdiction to the performance of their
duty, he was quite as ready to address his remonstrances
to the chief magistrate of the realm.

Archbishop Islip, like a practical man, determined
to make himself, by personal inspection, thoroughly
acquainted with the condition of the clergy and the state
of the Church. Immediately after his enthronization,
notwithstanding the condition of the country, he com
menced a provincial visitation, which was continued from
time to time.

* There is a beautiful little MS., perhaps contemporary, of Islip's
letter, in the Bodleian Library, under the title of " Speculum Regis
Edwardi." There are two copies of the " Speculum Regis," in eighteen
chapters, in the British Museum, Faustina, b. 1, and Cleopatra, d. 9.
MSS. of this work have been several times advertised for sale of late
years.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 137

The archbishop could not, at a time, when it was doubt- CHAP.
ful whether the plague had left the country, assemble the « — r,_^-
clergy in large numbers, and it was supposed by some, i^°n
that the visitation had been perfunctorily discharged ; 1349~66-
the archbishop being rather unobservant of delinquencies,
or else failing to notice them from considerations offered
in private. But upon this subject, the minds of his
calumniators were soon disabused. Everything had been
carefully noted, and when the archbishop returned to
Canterbury, all offenders, high and low, were called to
account.

At Lincoln the archbishop found an opponent in the
bishop of the diocese.* The Bishop of Lincoln had pur
chased from the court of Eome, at an enormous expense,
an exemption from the jurisdiction of his metropolitan.
As monasteries, by placing themselves immediately under
the pope, were exempted from the jurisdiction of the
bishops, in whose dioceses their establishments might
locally stand ; so the bishop thought, that by taking the
pope for his immediate superior, he might make his an
exempt diocese. But Islip, a lawyer, knew that, by the
common law of the Church, any bull to such an effect could
not be permanently binding. He acted accordingly. He
remonstrated with the authorities at Avignon, and a
counter bull was issued. We possess the two documents,
and strange documents they are, when brought into juxta
position. The first is a bull from Clement VI., absolving
the Bishop of Lincoln from any oath of fidelity, obedience,

* John Gynewell had been rector of Llanethly, and prebendary of
Lincoln ; he had a stall, also, in Salisbury, and another at York. On
13th of May, 1346, he was Archdeacon of Northampton. He was
consecrated at Oxford on the 23rd of September, 1347, at the same
time as John Thoresby, who was then Bishop of St. David's, and after
wards became Archbishop of York. Ke died at Lidington on the 4th
August, 1362. Ang. Sac. i. 45. X. Script. 2620. Stubbs, 55.

138 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and subjection, by which he had been bound to the Arch-

_^L_ bishop and Church of Canterbury. The second document

isHp0 is a bull of Innocent VI., in which it is stated that, in the

1349-66. indulgence granted by Pope Clement to John Bishop of

Lincoln, some things more and some things less were

inadvertently inserted ; it was added, that Clement, before

his death, intended to correct them, so that the indulgence

was virtually cancelled. The archbishop, therefore, was

justified in the course he pursued; and the Bishop of

Lincoln — all we have to say of him is, that he did ;iot

receive back any portion of the money he had expend 3d.

This repayment was a useless trouble, of which the papal

court had never been guilty.

This was not, however, the only inconvenience to which,
on the ground of exemption, the primate was subjected.
The relations between the University of Oxford and its
diocesan, the Bishop of Lincoln, were not yet decided.
The Bishop of Lincoln refused to confirm the election
of William de Polmorna to the Chancellorship of tie
University, although this was only a ministerial act. He
refused to assign a reason for conduct so unprecedented.
An appeal being made to the archbishop, the archbishop
issued his precept to the bishop, requiring him, within six
days, to confirm William de Polmorna, or to show caute
for his refusal before the commissary of the archbishop, in
the church at Mayfield, at which place the primate v?i s
at that time residing. The bishop being contumacious, the
archbishop next appointed a commission to confirm and
admit the chancellor. The Bishop of Lincoln appealed to
the pope, and on the strength of the appeal, justified his
non-appearance. The primate pronounced the appeal to
be frivolous, and treated the bishop's non-appearance a:
Mayfield as a contempt of court. When the bishop dis
regarded another citation, made according to due form
the primate placed the town of Banbury, where the bishop

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 139

was then residing, under an interdict, including of course CHAP.
the bishop's chapel. The bishop still persevered in bringing x_JL.
the case before the papal courts ; but he gained nothing i&£
by his conduct, except an ordinance, which the University
accepted, by which, for the future, the Bishop of Lincoln
was required to confirm the Chancellor of the University, if
duly elected, at the first requirement ; if the bishop refused
or delayed the chancellor was then to be confirmed by
the archbishop or his commissioner.*

In the year 1353, the University was convulsed by
a controversy which caused much more trouble to the
archbishop. A disturbance, originating in a drunken
broil between some students and a vintner, ended
in a pitched battle between gown and town. The bell
sounded from St. Martin's, and summoned the townsmen
to the battle. The bell sounded from St. Mary's, and
summoned the gownsmen to the rescue. Bows were bent
and arrows were drawn. The fight began in earnest.
The gownsmen seemed likely to obtain the victory, but
the bell of St. Martin's still sounding the alarm, two
thousand persons from the surrounding country rushed to
the city gates, and recruited the troops of the townsmen.
Twenty-eight, gownsmen were left dead in the streets, and
the number of wounded was considerably larger. No one
was safe, except those who ensconced themselves between
the four walls of a college or a monastery. A contem
porary poet writes : —

Urebat portas agrestis plebs populosa :
Post res distortas videas quse sunt vitiosa.
Vexillum geritur nigrum, £fclea Sblca recitatur,
Credunt quod moritur rex, vel quod sic humiliatur.
Clamant $^abocfc Ct ^abotfc non sit qui salvificetur,

fast, C$be (pott fenocfeS, nullus post hsec dominetur.f

* Wood, Annals, i. 451. All the documents are to be found in
Wilkins. f Wood, i. 458.

140 LIVES OF THE

The townsmen having cleared the streets, attacked the
inns, hostels, or halls of the scholars.

Invadunt aulas t)g t!)C Sun COttU fdttfje geminantes.
Fregerunt caulas simul omnia vi spoliantes
Sic occiduntur plures, &c.*

The archbishop was implicated in this affair, by the
exercise of his authority as metropolitan. He superseded
the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln. The bishop
had placed the town under an interdict, and then, for
some reason unassigned, he modified, if he did not reverse,
the sentence. The interdict was renewed by the authori ty
of the primate. He acted thus to render the townsm3n
amenable to an arrangement, which he suggested with a
view of settling finally, all disputes with reference to the
several jurisdictions of the chancellor and the mayor. Both
parties were required to admit, that they had been, to a
certain extent, in the wrong — that admission, which is
always necessary, before a reconciliation can be rendered
permanent. The matter was then submitted to tl e
arbitration of the king. The king in council, acting en
the advice of the archbishop, confirmed the ancient
charters that had been granted to the town, and then
conferred on the university, certain privileges, which :.t
retains to the present hour.f

We may now mention the legislative enactments wit i
which Islip was, more or less directly, concerned ; and
advert to that most important measure, which was, in
fact, the first decided step taken, so far as externals wer<;
concerned, towards the reformation of the Church of
England.

* Wood, i. 459.

f Compare Wood, Parker, Collier, Barnes, and Ingram. It was re
ported that the mayor was hanged, but Anthony Wood says : " I deem
the report false, because the mayor lived several years after this time,
and died a wealthy man."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 141

We have had occasion to allude before, to the statute CHAP.

"XTT

of provisors, and to the evils resulting from papal pro- * —
visions, which it was designed to redress. It will be only i^™
necessary, very briefly, to recall the reader's attention to 1349-66-
the whole subject.

We have been compelled to note the aggressions of
the see of Eome upon the patronage of the Church ; and
so carefully was the progress made, that the advances
made by the Eoman court may be compared to the
steps of the feline race — stealthy and gentle, until it was
time to pounce upon the prey. The attempt was first
made on the rights of private patrons, towards the close
of the twelfth century. Letters were addressed to patrons,
asking for the exercise of their patronage in favour of
certain specified persons. These were called expectatives.
The expectatives by degrees grew into mandates under
the pretext, that the patrons were suspected of having
entered into simoniacal contracts, or of entertaining an
intention of keeping the benefice vacant, for the purpose
of applying the revenues to their private use. The latter
was a plea so often heard, that we shall find measures
taken to guard against an evil which, in unsettled times,
may have been of frequent occurrence.

Then came the power of devolution — that is, of ap
pointing a proper person to a vacant see, should a divided
chapter fail to elect in a reasonable time ; or if, on an
appeal, the person elected was found to be incompetent.
This proceeding was justified on the ground, that it was
expedient to supply a pastor to the church with as little
delay as possible.

The decretal, unquestioned and uncontroverted, had
also asserted for the pope, the patronage of all sees
rendered vacant by the death of the incumbent, when
attending the courts at Eome—" vacantes in curia." The
policy of the Eoman courts thenceforth, in encouraging

142 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the number of appeals was evident ; and bishops were
^XIL_^ taught by experience, that, by a personal attendance, any

?sHpn business they had to transact at Rome was, if not ex-
1349-66. pedited, yet more satisfactorily arranged.

Notwithstanding all these precautions, the complaints
of simony, and of the wrong doings of patrons, were
frequently brought before the authorities of Rome ; and
the Roman lawyers suggested that, in order to prevent
these abuses, the pope, when he had grounds for sup
posing, that a patron would not exercise his right accord
ing to law, might nominate to any benefice by anticipation,
before the death of the incumbent, — that he might reserve
certain benefices, assuming to himself, pro hac vice, t ic
appointment. In the fourteenth century, Clement V.
broadly asserted, that the right to present to all benefices
was inherent in the pope. He maintained, that othar
patrons only exercised the privilege of patronage as a
concession. He who gave might take away, and tlie
conceded privilege might, for special reasons, and at
certain times, be revoked. Hence, during the life of tl. e
incumbents, the pope might make reversionary grants,
which reversionary grants were called provisions. A t
first, he nominated the successor of a living incumbent-
After a time, he simply notified to an astonished patron,
that he had provided for the benefice, though he hal
not thought it necessary to mention the fact. At lasi ,
the provision came to signify little more than the inten
tion of the pope to supersede the right of a patron ;
and, as the source of all patronage, himself to appoint.
As the pope, at the same time, claimed the power to
grant dispensations from any canons, which had beei.
passed against non-residence and pluralities, together will
permissions to hold benefices in commendam ; the pope,
through his provisions, could, in point of fact, pension
the members of his court and household, or any persons

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 143

whom he might be pleased to force upon the different CHAP.
national churches of Europe. Nay, more than this. Not ^JL
content with finding an income for his courtiers, lawyers i™™
and counsellors, the pope claimed to have a share in the 1349~66-
spoil. Annates, consisting of the first year's income of a
benefice, were exacted from all whom the pope appointed
by provision and reservation — a circumstance, which will
account for his setting aside the canonical election of
Islip and his immediate predecessors. A tithe also
upon the tithe was, every year, to be paid into the papal
treasury.

We have had instances of the unscrupulous manner, in
which these usurped powers were exercised, from time to
time, and the immense sums of money, in consequence,
drawn out of the country. Even if we admit that the
clergy, who wished to rouse the government to protect
them, may have exaggerated some of the statements, the
grievance was so great, as, at length, to rouse the in
dignation of the whole kingdom.

We are not to attribute any deep political foresight
or sagacity to the parliament of Edward. We simply
remark, that it exhibited one of the characteristics of the
English mind. Its members were thoroughly practical.
They waited, till the grievance was intolerable, and then,
as with a sledge-hammer, they sought to overcome it.

When provisions were introduced the people murmured.
Under the abuse of provisions, by which the income of
certain benefices was drawn out of their country, they com
plained. But when a French pope, supporting the French
king against the king of England, sought to strengthen
the hands of the enemy, by making the English pay those
counsellors, who were most bitterly anti- Anglican in their
feelings, it was determined to put an end to an intolerable
grievance. To excite the indignant feelings of the people,
indisputable facts were produced. As is the case in all

144 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, party movements, other statements may sometimes have
_^_l^ been hazarded which exceeded the truth. But the i-nd
was answered, the spirit of all England was roused. The
pestilence, the ensuing murrain among the cattle, the an
ticipation, in consequence, of an insufficient supply of food,
the impoverished state of the realm, the demoralization of
the people, all were traced to the exactions, misdeeds,
and usurpations of the papacy, which were declared to
be more disastrous than war. It was averred, that, at the
papal court, all things were venal ; and it was affirmed,
that, taking their lesson from Borne, even in England
patrons had begun to practise simony without shame or
remorse.

Before applying to parliament, Edward, in conjunction
with his nobles, sent a remonstrance to the pope. He
received a menacing and contemptuous answer, in which
it was stated, that both the emperor and the king of
France had enacted laws against provisions, but had sub
sequently repealed them, and had yielded to the pop 3.
Edward replied, that if the emperor or the king of Franc?,
either or both, were ready to take the pope's part, to
either or both the King of England was prepared to gi\ e
battle, in defence of the liberties of his crown.

There was now a union of all parties ; and in 1350
the statute of Provisors* was unanimously passed. The
important preamble of the statute runs thus : " Whereas
the holy Church of England was founded in the estate cf
prelacy within the realm of England, by the king and his
progenitors, and by the earls, barons, and other nobles of
the realm and their ancestors, to inform them and tin*
people of the law of God, and to make hospitalities,

* " Provisores dicuntur qui vel episcopatum vel ecclesiasticam alian
dignitatem in Romana Curia sibi ambiebant de future, quod ex gratu.
expectativa nuncuparunt, quia usquedum vacaret, expectandum esset.'
— Spelman, Glossary.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 145

alms, and other works of charity in the places where the CHAP.
churches were founded, for the souls of the founders, ^_^L^
their heirs, and all Christians ; and certain possessions as s^™
well in fees, lands, and rents, as in advowsons, which do ex- 1349-66.
tend to a great value, were assigned by the said founders
to the prelates and other people of the holy Church of the
said realm, to sustain the same charge and especially of
the possessions, which were assigned to the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, priors, religious and all other people of
holy Church, by the kings of the said realm, earls, barons,
and other great men of the realm ; the same kings, earls,
barons, and other nobles, as lords and advowees, have had
and ought to have the custody of such voidances, and the
presentments and the collations of the benefices being of
such prelacies ; and the said kings in times past were
wont to have the greatest part of their councillor the safe
guard of the realm, when they had need of such prelates
and clerks, so advanced : the bishop of Eome accroaching
to him the seignories of such possessions and benefices,
doth give them to aliens, who never dwell in England,
and to cardinals, which might not dwell here, and to
others as well aliens as denizens, as if he had been patron
or advowee of the said dignities and benefices, as lie was
not of right of the law of England ; whereby if they
should be suffered there should scarcely be any benefice
within a short time in the said realm, but that it should
be in the hands of aliens and denizens, by virtue of such
provisions against the good will and disposition of the
founders of the benefices."*

After this preamble, it was, in full parliament, "ordered,
provided, established, agreed, adjudged, and considered,
that the said oppressions, grievances, and damages in the

* I have never seen the whole of the preamble printed except in
law books. I have given it, therefore, as it shows what were the prin
ciples of the Church at this time, in regard to its independence.

VOL. IV. L

146 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, same realm, from henceforth, should not be suffered in any

"VTT

manner." It was, therefore, by the assent of all the great
men and the commonalty of the realm, " ordered and
established, that the free elections of archbishops, bishops,
and all other dignities and benefices elective in England,
shall be held henceforth, as they were granted by the
king's progenitors, and the ancestors of other lords,
founders of the said dignities and other benefices ; and
that all prelates and other people of holy Church, which
have advowsons of benefices of the king's gift, or of aiy
of his progenitors, or of other lords and donors, to do
divine services and other charges thereof ordained, shall
have their collations and presentations freely to the san e,
in the manner in which they were enfeoffed by the donors.
It was enacted, that if the pope should reserve a promo
tion elective, the king shall have the collation to the bene
fice or dignity, such as his progenitors originally possessed,
before a free election was granted. The election wis
first granted, it is said, by the king's progenitors upon a
certain form and condition — to seek, for instance, a conge
d'elire, and after election to have the royal assent, and in r o
other way; which conditions not kept, then they ought,
by reason, to resort to its first nature."

To guard against any equivocation, it was further
enacted, that a benefice shall lapse to the bishop, if the
patron, on its vacancy, does not present within six months,
and to the king, if the bishop present not within one
month. Any pro visor, or a person accepting a provision
of the pope and disturbing the right of a patron by sail
provision ; or their proctors, executors, and notaries ; were
to be imprisoned, and were not to be released, until they
had paid a fine, and had given security, that they would
not transgress again, or sue for redress in any foreig-i
court.*

* Statute of Provision of Benefices. 25 Edw. III. 6.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 147

In 1363, an addition was made to this act, by which it CHAP.
was enacted, that all persons purchasing citations from . J^L_
Borne, or provisions for deaneries or other dignities, should f8™°n
be arrested and punished according to the foregoing 1349-66.
statute.

All the estates of the realm, " the king, the prelates,
the dukes, the earls, barons, nobles, and other commons,
clerks, and lay-people, were bound by this present ordi
nance to aid, comfort, and to counsel the one and the other,
and as often as shall need ; and by all the best means that
can be made of word and deed, to impeach such offenders,
and resist their deeds and enterprises, and without suffer
ing them to inhabit, abide, or pass by the seignories,
possessions, lands, jurisdictions, or places, and be bound
to keep and defend the one and the other from all damage,
villany, and reproof, as they should do to their own per
sons and for their deed and business, and by such manner
and as far forth as such prosecutions or process were made
or attempted against them in especial, general, or in
common."*

Three years after the first statute of pro visors, in 1353,
the first statute of Prsemuniref was enacted. In this
the grievance was stated, that " diverse of the people
had been drawn out of the realm to answer to things

whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the king's court ;
and also that the judgments given in the said court

* Statute of Provisors, 38 Echv. III. The sentences are long and
complicated, but I have thought it best to give them as I find them.

f So called from the words of the writ, " Rex vice-comiti," &c.,
11 Praemunire facias praefatum A B quod tune sit coram nobis,*' &c.
11 Prsemunire" is said to be used for " prsemonere," to forewarn. But
though this is usually asserted, " Prsemunire " is a Ciceronian word in a
cognate sense, and there does not seem to be any reason why " Prscmu-
nire " should be looked upon as a corruption : — forewarned, fore
armed : — and the use of " munio," " praemiinio," and " munimcnta "
is more common in mediaeval writers, than in the classics.

148 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, are impeached in another court to prejudice and clis-

J^ ' inherison of our lord the king and his crown and of all

isiipn the people of the said realm and to the destruction and
L349-66. undoing of the common law of the said realm at all times
used." Wherefore it was enacted, that " ah1 the people of
the said king's ligeance, of whatsoever condition they be,
which shall draw any out of the realm, the plea whereof
the cognizance pertaineth to the king's court," or offend
in any of the ways above recited, shall be bound " to
appear before king and his council, or in Chancery, or
before the king's justices in his places of the one bench or
the other, to answer in their proper persons to the kir-g
of the contempt done in this behalf." If they failed to c o
this, they were put out of the king's protection, and their
lands, goods, and chattels forfeit to the king, and in
their persons they were to be imprisoned.*

Among the first to violate, if not the letter yet the
spirit of the statutes, were the king himself and the
Prince of Wales, though I am inclined to think, that they
received some provocation from the archbishop. Th3
story is this : on the death of Northburgh, Bishop cf
Coventry, and Lichfield, Eobert of Stretton was elected as
his successor, at the instance of the Prince of Wales.
His confirmation belonged of right to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who rejected him on the plea of his beinf';
incompetent. The prince, with the consent of the king,
appealed to the pope, and the pope confirmed the sentence
of the archbishop. Now here comes the difficulty. We dc
not find that Stretton's morals were attacked, but only his
literature. It is, indeed, certain, that in his old age he
was blind, and that he could not read at his consecration.f
But then, on the other hand, he was not only a Canon of

* Pramiunire for suing in a foreign realm. 27 Edw. III. c. i.
| See Ang. Sac. i. 449.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 149

Chichester, but a doctor of laws, and an auditor of the Eota. CHAP.
The king and the prince remonstrated with the pope, and - — -^—
the pope promised to confirm any sentence pronounced, i^
on an examination of the case, by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in conjunction with the Bishop of Eoch ester.
The prince urged these prelates to deal with the elect not
according to the strict letter of the rule, but with gentle
ness and favour. This looks suspicious, as against Stretton.
And the archbishop and the Bishop of Eochester still
refused to confirm the election. It is so unlikely that an
auditor of the Eota should be unable to read, unless by a
physical defect, that we cannot help suspecting that the
English clergy were dealing unfairly with an unpopular
man, his blindness or short-sightedness being made a
handle against him. But be this as it may, if we acquit
the prince of having selected an improper person, we
cannot justify the way in which he carried his point.

The prince again applied to the pope. The pope not
only yielded to the application, but, with the countenance
of the prince, in defiance of the common law of the Church
and the statutes of the realm, issued a commission for the
consecration of the very man, whom he had, two years
before, declared to be unfit for a bishopric.

We see from this one transaction — and similar cases
might be produced — how difficult it still was to restrain
self-willed princes, and how necessary it became to re-
enact the statute of Provisors from time to time.*

This was not the only struggle, which Islip had with

* In the early period of parliamentary legislation it became frequently
necessary to re-enact a law. Persons seeking to evade it would repre
sent it, otherwise, as obsolete. The Statute of Provisors required to be
followed up by many others to the same effect. To give a few instances,
27 Edw. III. c. 1 ; 38 Edw. III. c. 1 ; 3 Kic. II. c. 37 ; 8 Kic. II. c. 12 ;
12 Ric. II. c. 15 ; 13 Ric. II. c. 23 ; 2 Henry IV. c. 3; 7 Henry IV.
c. 8 ; 9 Henry IV. c. 8 ; 1 Henry V. c. 7 ; 4 Henry V. c. 4.

150 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, this illustrious prince. The king, on the death of every
English bishop, was entitled to his horse or palfrey, with
tne saddle and bridle, a cloak with a hood (capella). a
CUp with a cover, a basin and ewer, a gold ring, and the
mute or kennel of hounds of the deceased prelate. When
the Black Prince was invested with the Principality of
Wales, he concluded, that the rights of royalty devolv -d
upon him ; and, on a vacancy of the see of St. Asaph, "be
demanded the payment of these dues. The archbishop
resisted his claim. He proved, that in the dioceses of
St. Asaph and Bangor, as in that of Bochester, the royal
rights, in these respects, had been conferred upon the
primate.*

Upon another occasion, we find the king co-operating
with the archbishop in maintaining the principles of the
late statutes ; but we must remark that on this occasion
he had no private ends to serve. A misunderstandii g
had taken place between the Lady Blanche Wake ard
Thomas de Lisle, Bishop of Ely.f

We have no occasion, to go into the merits of the cas 3,
and need only remark, that the bishop was one of thoee
wrong-headed men who, even when they are in the right,
if the case be considered abstractly, contrive, by the:r
conduct, to place themselves in the wrong. He wcs
accused of abetting arson and murder. A farm-house of
the Lady Blanche was burnt, soon after their misundei-

* Coke's 2nd Inst. 491. There is a very interesting paper on the
rights which were claimed on a vacancy in the primacy by the Chapter
of Canterbury, in the Journal of the Archa?ological Institute, xi. 275.

•f Thomas Lyldus, or de Lisle, was educated at Cambridge, where h3
graduated in theology. He was a learned man, "ut ilia ferebant tem-
pora,"as Godwin expresses it; and was eminent as a preacher. He wa*
appointed by papal provision to the see of Ely, and was consecrated ai
Avignon. He died on the 23rd of June, 1361. He was a benefactor t«>
St. Peter's College, Cambridge. Foedera, v. 457. Reg. Lisle MSS. Cole

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 151

standing, and one of her servants was killed by a servant CHAP.
of the bishop. The bishop was accused of being the real > — --,—
author of the outrage, and was found guilty, upon trial, isHpn
by a jury. He attempted to set aside the verdict by 1349~66-
demanding to be tried by his peers. When that attempt
failed, on the ground, that parliament was not sitting, he
claimed to be admitted to his canonical purgation ; in
other words, ne appealed from the temporal to the
spiritual court ; in which a cleric of any grade, when sus
pected or convicted of a crime before a temporal court,
might offer to make proof of his innocence by his own
oath or by the oaths of compurgators. Having carried
his case to the spiritual court, where no one appeared to
accuse him, the bishop called upon the primate to pro
claim his purgation. The archbishop, as a wise, prudent,
and patriotic man, perceived that nothing could be more
injurious to the interests both of Church and State, at this
juncture, than to bring the two jurisdictions, in the spiritual
and temporal courts, into collision. He declined, therefore,
to act. On the contrary, he was urgent with the Bishop
of Ely to make his submission to the king, and to regain,
if possible, the royal favour.

We may add, that the Bishop of Ely fled to Avignon.
Here the pope strongly advocated his cause, and went so
far as to excommunicate the judges, who had passed
sentence on the bishop, placing their estates under an
interdict. The excommunication and the interdict were
alike disregarded by the English government. The king,
under the late statute of Prsemunire, outlawed all per
sons bringing letters, citations, or censures from the pope
into England, and imprisoned the bishops' agents and
chaplains. The pope expostulated. He threatened to
proceed to further extremities ; but the dispute was ter
minated by the timely death of de Lisle. It was suffi-

152 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, ciently clear that papal power in England was no longer

_XIL ^ what it had been.*
^™n It is very remarkable, that the year 1350 was a very

1349-66. busy year, when large masses of the people were con
gregated, apparently without fear. The Black Death
could hardly be said to have ceased ; and yet we have
seen, that a full parliament was held, and that the arch
bishop did not fear to proceed on his visitation. But
what is still more surprising is, that, in this year, amidst
feasts and tournaments, the order of the garter was
finally established, and the knights installed. According
to Walsingham and Fabyan, the order was instituted :.n
1344. According to Stow, the date of its institution is
1350, and Ashmole gives this as the date assigned in
the statutes. j* It was probably founded, as is commonly
stated, on the 19th of January, 1344, but was not com
pletely organized, until the 23rd of April, St. George's
day, in 1350 ; when the archbishop was summoned to
Windsor to assist at its inauguration.

There seem to have been no precautions taken against
the spread of the plague, and there was probably littb
fear of contagion or infection. It was a visitation cf
God, and the people felt, that they had only to submit.
Then, again, scarcely any of the wealthy or the noble
were smitten ; and, to the shame of chivalry, it must bo

* Ang. Sac. i. 652. Walsingham, ad. an. 1358. Parker.

•(• In RastelFs Chron. 21G, the following passage occurs: " Abou;
the 19th year of this kynge, he made a solemne feest at Wyndsore,
and a great justes and turnament, where he devysed and perfytec
subtancyally the Order of the Knyghts of the Garter. Howe be it soim
afferm, that this order began fyrst by Kynge Rycharde Cure de Lyon.
at the sege of ye citie of Acres, wher, in his great necessity, there were
but xxvi knyhts that fermely and surely abode with the kynge:
wherefore he caused all them to were thongs of blue leather about
their legges ; and afterwarde they were called Knyghts of the Blue
Thonge.'

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 153

stated, that, below an esquire and a priest, the sympathies
of a knight could seldom descend. Add to this we must,
that a ceremonial of this sort, in the fourteenth century,
was not regarded as it would be now, in the light of a 1349-66-
mere pageant. It was, also, a religious ceremonial.
Stow describes the king and his five and twenty knights
coming forth in grand array. Each knight wras clothed
in a gown of russet, powdered. Over this was a blue
mantle with scutcheons of St. George. Each knight had
his garter of blue below his knee, with the motto, " Honi
soit qui mal y pense." The chroniclers describe the
splendour of the court, at which Philippa of Hainault
presided, apparelled in a dress which cost £500. They
tell us of the squires, pages, and yeomen in their rich
liveries, attendant upon the noble dames; of heralds
and pursuivants running to and fro, their gorgeous
coats sparkling in the sun. The king appeared in the
lists with a white swan upon his shield. His son in
splendid armour rode by his side.* We are told of the
knightly dexterity, with which the horses were made to
pace round the arena, before the combatants arranged
themselves, in two parties, for the conflict. We are left
to imagine the sound of the trumpet ; the charge, and
the shivering of lances ; the shouts of the people ; the
fair faces looking down from the turrets upon the spirit-
stirring spectacle ; the clarion peal around the castle
walls. There is something strange in the interest felt,
even at the present hour, when such a scene is presented

* It is sometimes supposed, that the Prince of Wales wore black
armour, than which nothing can be more erroneous. Neither Froissart
nor Monstrelet, nor, as far as I know, any English chronicler, calls him
the Black Prince. The French, after the battle of Cressy, spoke of
him as Edward le Noir, and the English soldiers adopted the term, as
one of endearment, as Marlborough was styled Corporal John, and
other leaders have had their nicknames.

154 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to the imagination. But my business is to mention the
first part of the ceremonial, which consisted in a solemn
procession of the king and of all the knights, bare-head ed,
to the royal chapel, where the primate of all England, in
full pontificals, and wearing the pall, was standing to
receive them, and to give that blessing to the institution,
which still attaches to the order. The archbishop an
nounced what was inserted in the ordinances of the order,
that everything was ordained to remind the knights of
their being Christian men, engaged to maintain, wherever
they might be, the cause of Christ. The garter was to
represent the importance of unity among the knights ;
and each knight was to bind it on his knee to be warned,
that, in battle, he should never fly. The motto was
to suggest to him, that nothing unseemly was to be done
by a knight ; while the image of St. George was to i.i-
stigate him to the acts of a hero. His purple robe
indicated, that a knight was the equal of kings ; the collar,
always of the same weight and with the same number of
links, was a witness of the bond of faith, of peace, cf
unity. They were called companions of the order, to
declare their readiness in peace or war to act as brethrer,
and with one accord. In Anstis's Eegister of the Order of
the Garter, and in Ashmole, more to the same effect may
be found, drawn out to a considerable length.

The archbishop proceeded to the altar. There he
celebrated high mass, and the king, with the knights,
received the holy communion ; devoting themselves to the
service of God, to the maintenance of truth, and to the
resistance of all wrong-doers.

There may have been more or less of superstition in
some of these proceedings ; but the connexion of all that
related to the ceremonials of the court with religion,
prevented them from becoming what they too often are
in moelern times, a mere unmeaning formality.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 155

There was another state ceremonial, in which the arch- CHAP.
bishop was concerned, and to which a religious character v_x,L_.
was imparted. I allude to the release of the royal French ^™pn
prisoner, King John, in the year 1361. 1349-66.

King Edward kept his Christmas, in 1360, at Wood
stock. He held his parliament, immediately after the holi
days, on the 24th of the following January, at Westminster.
He communicated to the three estates of the realm the
articles of peace which he had made with the king of
France.* The two houses were satisfied with the arrange
ments, and all preliminaries having been settled, the king,
with the lords spiritual and temporal, attended a solemn
service, at Westminster Abbey, at which the archbishop
officiated. The epistle of the day was singularly appro
priate. It was taken from 2 Cor. xiii. 1 1 — " Be perfect,
be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace ; and
the God of peace shall be with you. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellow
ship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen."

When the sacrament had been consecrated, it was
placed in front of the altar, amidst a blaze of torches ;
the archiepiscopal cross forming a kind of reredos. The
peers were, all of them, to receive the communion. The
two kings had been sworn before ; and King Edward and
his sons took their place fronting the French hostages.
The archbishop then drew nigh, and with a loud voice
said, " We, Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, do swear
upon the Holy Body of God, and His Holy Gospel, firmly,
as much as in us lies, to keep the peace and concord
agreed upon by the two kings, and to do nothing con
trary thereunto." He signed the oath, and having de
livered it to notaries, he received the sacrament. Each
peer then followed in due order ; and when all the

* The articles may be seen in Brady or Tyrrel.

156 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. English were sworn, the same form was observed by the
— French.

Simon Islip was a stern strict man, attending to every
little detail of duty, and requiring of others that they
should do the same. Such a man was sure to be un
popular, especially when, economical in all the arrange
ments of his household, he also evinced a grasping <r nd
avaricious disposition. We have vindicated him from the
charge of penuriousness in regard to his enthronization, but
nothing can justify his subsequent conduct. The plague
was followed by a murrain among the cattle, which, with
other consequences of " The Mortality," exposed him to
pecuniary difficulties. He, consequently, obtained a pap al
bull, empowering him to levy a tax upon the clergy of
the diocese, at the rate of fourpence in the mark. He
actually exacted a tenth. Perhaps he was unjustly cen
sured for insisting upon dilapidations, to the amount of
£1100, from the executors of John Ufford. For he could
only make them refund the money, which Ufford hal
received, and which his executors ought to have paid t)
Bradwardine. Some defence may be made for his conduct
in felling the timber on his estates. It is not said, that ho
damaged the property ; and the timber being there, it wa;s
better to cut down the trees, than to run into debt.*

Another act of his was offensive to his contemporaries.
As lord of the manor of Slindon, near Chichester, he had
a claim on the estate of the Earl of Arundel for thirteen
fat deer and thirteen lean deer — this claim he sold for
240 marks. It was said, that he had no right to part with
a privilege pertaining to the see.f

* Ang. Sac. i. 46. "Archiepiscopus vendidit arbores in et super terris
tenentire Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi in Walda crescentes communiter
vocata Dornedenes." In the Sussex Archaeological Journal, Mr. H. R.
Hoare refers this to Dornedenes in the Wold of Kent, ii. 128.

f Ang. Sac. i. 46. Perhaps Islip is less to blame in this transaction

AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 157

But, as frequently happens in men of Islip's disposition, CHAP.
who are at the same time men of principle, and under , r_^

C3"

the influence of a sense of duty, he was not found wanting, ^^™
when a clear case of necessity was brought before him, 1349-66-
or when any great and important work was to be accom
plished.

When, in May 1357, the Prince of Wales arrived at
Canterbury, with his prisoner, John, King of France, we
may be certain, that the archbishop entertained the royal
visitors ; for his absence would have been such a mark of
disrespect, that it would have been noticed by the
chroniclers : equally certain it is, that they would have
noticed any curtailment in the splendid hospitalities
which were usual on such occasions in the Palace -of
Canterbury.

It is admitted, that in repairing the edifices attached to
the see, especially on his favourite residence, the manor
house of Mayfield, in Sussex, he displayed not only
munificence, but also considerable taste in architecture.
He expended a large sum of money on the palace at
Canterbury, probably upon the occasion of the royal visit
just referred to. He completed the house at Maidstone,
the repair of which had been commenced by his prede
cessor. But his great work was Canterbury Hall in the
University of Oxford, for which great work all his savings
were designed.

We have alluded to the influx of illiterate persons into
the sacred ministry, by the sudden demand for clergy
after the great mortality of the plague. The bishops had,
like Jeroboam, very frequently, to make priests of the
lowest of the people. Islip devoted the energies of

than is supposed, for it appears from the Close Eolls that the deer had
been compounded for by Boniface and Peckham. The national bank
ruptcy under Edward, and the impoverishment of the see by Stratford,
are enough to account for the economy of Islip.

158 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, his powerful mind to restore, by the exercise of spiritual

— ~^-^ discipline, something like order in the Church. The

isiipn enthusiasm of the new clergy required regulation ; and

66< valuing a learned ministry, as Islip did, he established

this hall as a place of education for students, who were

natives of Canterbury.

Canterbury Hall is now, to use Fuller's quaint expression,
swallowed up in Christ Church, " which is no sh gle
star, but a constellation of many put together."* Canter
bury Hall has, however, a place in history, from its
supposed connexion with the great Eeformer, John
Wiclif ; a notion which is now exploded.'}*

We still possess the charter of foundation, upon which
the archbishop bestowed no little thought and care.;
It is a document of considerable interest, and having laid
down those general rules for the government of his
college, which are common to all such institutions, the
founder descends to some particulars, which throw li^ht
upon his own character, and the circumstances of the

age.

Dress was so much thought of in those days, that SUIT p-
tuary laws were as necessary at the university, as they were
supposed to be elsewhere. He directs, that " the ward an
with the scholars, in addition to their ordinary dress, shall
receive yearly certain robes from the common fund; and
that the masters shall be clothed in the same way — vis.,

* Fuller, ii. 307.

f I assume it as a fact now admitted by all, who have examined tie
subject, that the warden of Canterbury Hall is a person distinct from iie
great reformer. The reader who wishes to see the subject logicaUy
argued and clearly proved is referred to Shirley's note on the tro
Wiclifs, appended to the republication of the Fasciculi Zizaniorun,
published in the Rerum Britannicarum Medii j&vi Scriptores. This
treatise is so brief as well as full, that it does not admit of further
abbreviation. It frees the reformer from the suspicion that his violem e
against Rome originated in personal feelings.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 159

bachelors with colobes* or tabards reaching to the ankles ; CHAP.

"XTT

sophisters with short colobes according to the stature of > — -Bl
each, and, as is fitting, with furs. The master shall receive &i™^
furs of miniver for hoods and of buget for supertunics, 1349-66-
bachelors of buget for both, and sophisters lambswool for
supertunics only, yet so that the price of the masters' robe
and the fur exceed not 30s., of bachelors 24s., of sophisters
18s., unless competent provision can be made for a less sum,
to which end let the bursar or other purchaser on your
part, be careful and exert himself as much as possible. The
bursar for the time being, taking with him, if need be, a
more experienced person whom the community may have
chosen for this purpose, shall faithfully purchase both robes
and furs, at a fitting time, at the said price, and shall dis
tribute them amongst the fellows, to each, as aforesaid,
according to his quantity. Let the residue remaining at
the year's end be faithfully kept for other necessary and
common uses of the said society. We inhibit the said
scholars from using cloaks or any other garments whatever,
unless with their tabards over, within the university, at least
in the public congregation of the scholars, except in rainy
weather, at which time they may have their cloaks, that
thus their colobes may be kept the better. Also when
after vespers the scholars customarily walk abroad and
take the air for a short period, we wish that the fellows
who are willing to walk out should seek each other's society
and walk together conversing with each other in pairs on
scholarship or on some proper and pleasant topic, and so
return together betimes."

The fellows were directed to speak Latin in the hall, and
all garrulity was prohibited. They were not all to speak

* The colobe is described by Ducange as a sleeveless tunic, or a
tunic with short sleeves, " tunica absque manicis vel certe cum mani-
cis, sed brevioribus, ex Gracco k-o\o/3oc, curtus." — Ducange, Gloss.

160 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, at once, but the younger were to listen, while the elders
^X*L_. laid down the law. It was customary, in the university, for
isiipn the members to incur great expenses, when feasts were
1349-66. given to celebrate any events of more than ordinary in
terest to the community in generator to any of the members.
We have here an instance of Islip's love of economy.
"Whosoever," he says, "of the said house shall have incept ?d
in any faculty, let his entertainment be held in the hall of
the said house and not elsewhere, nor let him invite more
than can, commodiously and properly, be received in the
said hall ; but with such a party, or less if he wish it, ht
him be contented. But let none of the fellows, on account
of his determination or inception in arts, nor any bachelor
in any science even of the higher class, make any feas,;
but if he wish it, and it may be conveniently done, let him
be quite contented with the distribution of a small anil
inexpensive allowance amongst his companions."*

Minute directions are also given for the regulation cf
the Library and the Chapel.

The first warden, whom Islip selected, to preside ove?
his college was Dr Woodhall, a monk. Woodhall was
a man of restless spirit and a violent temper. He soon
showed himself to be unequal to the post. In adjudging
between the rival pretensions, claims, and prejudices o '
scholars and monks, brought together under one roof, a
discretion was required which Woodhall did not possess.
The archbishop availed himself of the power, which
founders of religious establishments were accustomed to
reserve to themselves, to remove Woodhall ; and he nomi
nated in his place John Wycliff, Vicar of Mayfield.

With the Vicar of Mayfield we may presume, that the
archbishop was intimately acquainted, for Mayfield was
Islip's favourite place of abode. By reference to his

* Constit. Aulse Cant, in Univ. Oxon, ex Reg. Islip, fol. 213.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 161

signature attached to various public documents, we find him CHAP.

"XTT

resident here in the months of May, July, August, and >- r—

September, 1350. He was here from April to July 1352, j^p"
in February 1357, in March 1361, in January 1362, and 1349-66.
in April 1363.

He was at this time, a paralytic old man. In January
this year, 1363, the archbishop was riding from Otford to
Mayfield. Between Sevenoaks and Tunbridge he fell from
his horse in a wet and miry place. The horse appears to
have stumbled, and the rider was wet through. He rode
on, nevertheless, without changing his dress ; and, what
seems more remarkable, when he arrived at Mayfield,
finding himself weary, he feU asleep in his wet clothes in
the stone chamber, — " ibidem in quadam lapidea camera
dormiens meridie." He woke ill, but contrived to take his
place at the dinner-table ; but the cold increasing upon him,
he could scarcely articulate. It was soon perceived, that
the archbishop was labouring under a stroke of paralysis.
His mind, however, was not affected, for it was during this
time, that he drew up the statutes of his college.

In July, he tried change of air, and was carried in a litter
(suaviter in litera) to Charing. He was well enough to
visit Canterbury, but he did not stay there. His manor of
Charing was his chief residence till August 1364, when he
returned to Mayfield. Here he remained till the time of
his death ; an event, which took place, at midnight, on the
morrow of St. Mark, the 26th of April, 1366, in the seven
teenth year of his consecration.

As a characteristic trait we may remark, that he wished
his funeral to be private, and to be conducted with as
little expense as possible.

His orders were obeyed ; and on the second of May he
was buried in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, " absque
tumultu et expensis."

Part of his will is preserved in the Dies obituales Archie-

VOL. IV. M

162 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. pise. Cantuar. He bequeathed to the convent six dozen
._X*L_. silver plates and as many silver saltcellars of a superior
^s™pn kind, and newly made ; four silver basins with four ewers,
1319-66. twenty-four pieces of silver and six silver wine-cups, " to be
used in the refectory of the convent and not elsewhere;."
He also left a thousand of the best ewes he had, to form a
perpetual stock ; together with many rich robes and vest
ments. The quantity of stock kept upon an Episcopal estate
may be inferred from that, which was found on the estates
of the See of Winchester on the death of Edendon, which
happened in the same year. There were 127 draught
horses, 1,556 head of black cattle, 3,876 wethers, 4,777
ewes, 3,521 lambs.*

In the parish church of Islip, the device of the arcr-
bishop was found in several of the windows, — the device
was, a boy slipping down from a tree, and over his head
and in a label from his mouth these words on a scrol,
u I slip," in allusion to his name.

* Lowth's Life of William of Wykeham, p. 60. Hasted' s Kent, 327.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 1G3

CHAPTER XIII.

SIMON LANGHAM.*

A man of wealth. — A monk of Westminster. — His munificence. —
Abbot Henley. — Lawsuit with the Lord High Treasurer. — Abbot
Byrcheston. — Langham represents him at the General Chapter of
Benedictines. — Black Death. — Deaths in the Abbey. — Langham
Prior. — Abbot. — His confirmation. — Rules of the Benedictines not
strictly observed. — State of the Abbot. — Langham pays off the debt
on the Abbey. — Langham a great architect. — Important works at
Westminster Abbey. — Langham's discipline. — Regarded as a second
Founder. — His benefactions. — Appointed Lord High Treasurer. —
Obtains royal donations to the Abbey. — Venison. — Relics. — Lang-
ham offered Bishoprics of London and Ely. — Chooses Ely. — His
consecration. — His Episcopal injunctions. — Feasts of Fools. — Lang-
ham's generosity. — Appointed Lord Chancellor. — His Ministry. —
Opens Parliament, 1363. — His speech. — His determination to enforce
Statute of Provisors. — Opens Parliament, 13G5. — His speech. —
Statute of Provisors made more stringent. — Pope retaliates by
demanding the tribute. — Opens Parliament, 13G6. — Speech. —
Demand of Pope for tribute indignantly rejected by King, Clergy,
Parliament, and People. — Wiclif employed to write on subject. —
Wiclif preferred under Langham's government. — Langham desires

* Authorities: — Birchington ; Adam de Murimuth ; Walsingham ;
Historia Eliensis. There is said to be, in manuscript, a history of the
abbots of Westminster in the library of Westminster Abbey, which
I have not been able to see ; but probably it is the original of the
valuable notice of Langham in Widmore's History of the Church of
St. Peter. His statements have been compared with the observations
in Mr. Scott's Gleanings of Westminster Abbey, a work worthy of its
author. There is a notice of him in Dugdale. Dugdale's Monasticon ;
Steven's Monasticon.

M 2

161 LIVES OF THE

Church reform. — Primacy offered to Bishop of Winchester, and
refused. — Accepted by Bishop of Ely. — Langham enthroned with
much magnificence. — Archbishop's hospitalities at Lambeth. — Libels.
Gratitude of monks of Ely to Langham. — An accident. — Resigns
great seal. — Nevertheless opens Parliament 1368. — Arranges tithe
for London clergy. — Condemns Scotales. — Rationalistic heresies pre
valent. — Discontent among the people. — John Balle. — Hymn to St.
Catherine. — Clergy required to arm their tenants in the event of an
invasion. — Case of Canterbury Hall stated. — Nominated Cardinal. —
The King's anger. — Langham resigns the primacy. — Pecuniary diffi
culties. — Reconciliation with the King. — English preferments. —
Comes on an embassy to England. — Re-elected to Canterbury by
Chapter. — Refused archbishopric by the King and the Pope. —
Interest in the works of Westminster Abbey. — Obtains leave t)
return to England. — Prevented by a paralytic stroke, which proved
fatal.

CHAP. SIMON LAXGHAM was born at Langham, in Butlandshire.*'

/ , '_, He may have possessed a surname ; but these surnames

.angham. were not retained by monks ; and the custom of the age

.366-68. wa§5 when a man arrived at eminence, to drop his

patronymic, and to designate himself from the place oi

his birth.

Of his early life nothing is known. He first comes
under notice, as a monk of St. Peter's, Westminster. It
is conjectured by Widmore, that he received the cowl not
earlier than the year 1335. He was probably a man of
fortune. An admission to the richer monasteries was an
object sought with avidity, at this time, by men of rank
and learning ; by others who desired a quiet and per
manent retirement from the turmoils and dangers of civil
and military life ; and by others, again, who regarded it

* There are several places called Langham, in different counties.
Some persons have fixed upon Bishop's Langham, in Norfolk, as the
birthplace of our prelate ; but his will, a copy of which may be found
in the Appendix to Widmore, seems to settle the question in favour of
the Langham in Rutlandshire, by the fact of his leaving a legacy to the
church of that parish.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 165

as an honour, to have their names enrolled among the CHAP.
members of these religious institutions. As we have >__^_1_
seen in the life of Edmund Eich, an object so much L^ghlSn,
desired was attainable through contributions to the 1366-6*-
treasury of the convent, either by grants of land or by
gifts of money.* We can only account for the vast, we
may say the enormous, benefactions of Langham to West
minster Abbey, by supposing him to have possessed large
private means. His preferments were considerable, but
he did not hold them long ; and his expenses in making
his various changes of condition must have been great.
It is expressly stated that, when he became abbot, he
paid off the debts of his predecessors by money saved
while he was monk or prior. Widmore doubts the
accuracy of the statement, because, by the rule of their
order, the Benedictine monks could not have anything in
private property. f This is true, but it is also true, that
this rule, as well as others, was often evaded ; and, instead
of rejecting the assertion of contemporary historians, we
consider it to be much more reasonable to suppose, that
Langham, upon his becoming a monk, assigned his private
property to trustees, reserving to himself that power over

* Wymer de Cameston, before the year 1135, gave to Castleacre
Priory one carucate of land, " when he took on him the monk's habit."
Matthew Peverell, about the year 118G, confirmed to the monks of
Norwich a donation of certain lands and rents to Great Malton, on
condition that they received his brother Peter as a monk among them.
Alice de Meliers, in the time of King John, gave tithes to St. Bennet's
Abbey, when one of her sons had become a monk. William Earl of
Warren and Surrey gave to Carrow Abbey a messuage and forty acres
of land, "when Muriel, his sister, professed a nun there." In the reign
of Henry I., the Abbot of Hulme, for the sum of 10/., granted to Richard
Basset the town of Heigham for his life, and agreed " to receive him
into the fraternity of that abbey." Richard Fitzwilliam gave lands to
the monks, "that he might obtain a monastic brotherhood in that
priory." — See Taylor's Index Monasticus.

f Cap. xxxiii.

166 LIVES OF THE

it, which he so munificently displayed.* He acted up to
the spirit of the rule, by devoting the bulk of his large
property to the service of his order and abbey. Besides
expending vast sums of money during his life, he left, at
his death, the residue of his property to the Fabric of
the abbey, f It would seem from this, that his desire was,
to devote his vast resources not to the increase of luxury
in the convent, but to the adornment of the edifice, in
the completion of which he took so lively an interest
and such great delight. This residue amounted to
10,SO(M, equal to nearly 200,000;. of our money. J

In pursuing this argument, we have anticipated our
history. We go back to the earlier career of Simon.
When he was received as a monk, Thomas Henley was
the Abbot of Westminster. The first thing done was to
place the hood upon the young candidate's neck. The
candidate remained, for three days, fasting, receiving,
each day, the Holy Communion. On the third day, he
again knelt before the abbot, who put the hood over his
head. He was enjoined silence ; he was not permitted
to walk in procession, or to read in the church or pray
aloud. To perform these and all other monastic duties
and offices, the Master of the Novices made application
in Langham's behalf, at the first meeting of the Chapter ;
and, this being granted, the novice was duly cucullated.

* Strictly speaking, the convent denotes the community, that is, the
religious men inhabiting the house and not the house itself, though, in
a vulgar conception, the word passes for both. Among the learned
the distinction, however, is generally observed. Stevens, i. 7.

•f If a monk could not have possessions, how could he save ? He must
effect savings out of his own profession. All things were found for a
monk in a Benedictine monastery : his habit, a handkerchief, a knife,
a needle, a steel pen, and tablets to write. His bed was a mat, a straw
bed, a piece of serge, a blanket, and a pillow. But though he had the
use of these, they were the property of the community. Stevens, 164.

J Gleanings from Westminster Abbey, being an extract from Bray-
ley, 72.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 167

Abbot Henley, just at the time of Langham's admission CHAR
into the monastery, obtained a licence of non-residence _^E_-
from the king, that he might pursue his studies at L^gi™m.
Oxford. He sought, however, to propitiate the monks, 1366-68.
by remitting to the convent nine dishes of meat, six
conventual loaves, and three flagons of beer. These
they had been accustomed to provide, daily, for the
abbot's table, when he was either at Westminster, or at
the manor house of Neyte. He excused also their pay
ment of thirty pieces of oak timber, yearly from their
wood at Hendon.*

This statement is valuable ; for it shows, that the rule
of the founder prohibiting the eating of flesh, was not
strictly observed ; and, if this regulation was evaded,
so might be also the rule relating to property.

At the same time, he impoverished the monastery
by involving it in a lawsuit ; a suit, in which we are
concerned by the fact, that Langham paid the lawyer's
bill.

The hospital of St. James, consisting of two hides
of land, with the appurtenances, was situated in the
parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster. It had been
founded by the citizens of London long before the con
quest, says Speed, or " the time of any man's memory."
It was intended as an asylum for fourteen leprous
women. 'Eight brethren in holy orders were afterwards
added to perform divine service, f A question arose us

* Widmore, 89.

f Newcourt, 662. The hospital was surrendered to Henry VIII. in
the 23rd year of his reign. The king, having ousted the sisters, built
a good manor house, annexing thereunto a park, enclosed within a wall
of brick, since that time known as St. James's Park. Newcourt,
writing in 1708, says : — " It hath been of late years, that is, soon after
the restoration, very much improved and beautified with a canal, ponds,
and curious walks, between rows of trees, by King Charles II., serving
indifferently to the two palaces of St. James and Whitehall."

168 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to the right of visitation ; and this it was, which involved
• - . ' .* the Beneelictines of Westminster in a controversy with the
Langham. lord treasurer. That the abbots of Westminster had
68' visited the hospital was admitted ; but it was contended,
that those who diel so held also the office of treasurer to
the king. The high treasurer, when the suit com
menced, was Eoger of Northborough, Bishop of Coventry
and Lichfield ;* he was succeeded, in 1343, by William
ele Cusans ; who again was succeeded in 1345 by
William of Edendon,f Bishop of Winchester. All made,
common cause against the abbey. The trial came on, ir.
June 1342. The jury gave a full verdict for the abbot.
The hospital was in the parish of St. Margaret, and
there, it was decided, that the abbots had possessed full
jurisdiction, time out of mind. The lord high treasurer,

* Eoger of Northborough was educated at Cambridge, of which
university he was, at one time, chancellor. Engaging in the wars, he
was taken prisoner by the Scots. He afterwards became a lawyer, and
held the office of Lord High Treasurer in 1322, in 1340, and in 1342.
He contracted the marriage between Edward III. and Philippa of
Hainault. He was ordained deacon in 1317, and had prebends in
Lincoln, York, Hereford, London, and Lichfield. He was consecrated
to the see of Lichfield on the 27th of June, 1322. He died the 22nd
of November, 1359. Foss, iii. 281. Stubbs, 52.

•f William Edendon was born at Edendon, or Eddington, in Wilt
shire, and was educated at Oxford. Devoting himself to the State as
well as the Church, he became Keeper of the Wardrobe in 1343,
Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1344, Treasurer in 1345, Lord Chan
cellor in 135G. He was the first prelate of the Order of the Garter,
1350. He was rector of Cheriton in 1335. He had prebendal stalls
in Salisbury, Lincoln, and Hereford. He was consecrated to the see of
Winchester on the 14th of May, 134G. He refused the primacy,
which was offered to him on the death of Archbishop Islip. He was
the founder of Eddington College. He restored the buildings of the
Abbey of Romsey. When he was chancellor, he introduced the groat
and the half-groat, the real value of which was so far less than the
nominal, that there was a serious increase in the price of food. Foss,
iii. 425. Stubbs, 55. Collier, iii. 114.

AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 169

however, found means of delaying the judgment ; and CHAP.
obtained a new trial. Then, there was mismanagement or ^~,—>
negligence on the part of the monks; and when the L^™h°anm<
Bishop of Winchester was treasurer, he obtained a deci- 1366-68-
sion against the abbot.

Abbot Henley was succeeded by Simon de Byrcheston,
in 1344. He appears to have been a selfish, indolent
man ; and involved the house, already in difficulties, in
further debt. He was himself extravagant ; he was sur
rounded by dishonest people ; and his relations are
described as wasteful persons. By this time, Simon
Langham had, by his merits, established a high character
among the brethren ; and, Byrcheston being too ill or too
indolent to attend the triennial chapter of the Benedic
tines in 1346, Langham was appointed to represent the
abbey, at Northampton. The Benedictines, or Black
monks, were directed, by a canon of the second Lateran
Council, to hold a general chapter every third year, and
the decree was renewed by Benedict XII. The place
generally selected for the meeting in England, was North
ampton, as being near the middle of the kingdom. Here,
rules and constitutions were established, to be observed in
all houses of the order ; visitors were appointed ; defaulters
were censured; and money was raised for general purposes.
Two or three persons were selected from the various
Benedictine monasteries, to preside in these chapters. The
abbot of Westminster was one of them ; and the monk of
Westminster, who was sent to supply his place, was
already a man of mark.

In 1349, the Black Death had reached London ; and
from the effects of this awful pestilence the monks of
Westminster did not escape. Twenty-seven of his brethren
Simon Langham followed to the grave, — literally the grave,
for one deep grave was dug in the cloisters, to which the
bodies of all who died of the plague were consigned.

170 LIVES OF THE

Among the number, or in addition to it, was the Abbot
Byrcheston. The black spots appeared upon him on the
15th of May, and he was a corpse before evening.

Qne Of tjie jast public acts of Byrcheston was, in the
April preceding his death, to admit Langham to the
office of prior. This officer stood next to the abbot in
the choir, the chapter, the refectory, and in everything
relating to the discipline of the establishment.* Before
the end of May, Prior Langham was elected abbot.

St. Peter's being an exempt abbey, the confirmation
of its superior was reserved to the pope ; and therefore
to receive confirmation Simon passed over to Avignon.

Although a papal confirmation gave the abbot full
power, and rendered the benediction a mere form, still
the form was observed. On his return home, Sirnca
Langham received the benediction, therefore, from tlie
Bishop of London. Before the reading of the gospel in
the office of the holy communion, the abbot elect was
introduced ; and after responding affirmatively to certai i
interrogations put to him by the bishop, pledging himse f
to observe the rule of the order, and to preserve tha
privileges, while administering the discipline of tli3
house, he lay prostrate with the bishop upon a carpet
spread before the altar, while the litany was chanted.
After the litany, the bishop rose and pronounced th<;
benediction. The abbot, rising from his knees, now
received from the hands of the bishop the rule of the
order, with an exhortation to observe it. He then placed
in his hands the pastoral staff.

We have no notice of the previous ordination of Lang-
ham, and, if he was not in priest's orders before, his ordi
nation now took place.

The formal admission of the new abbot followed. He

* Deer. Lanfr. § De Priore.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 171

'cceivecl the convent who had come in procession ; and CHAP.
leaded the procession, as it went up the nave towards the '

, at the entrance of which a carpet being spread, he
again knelt down and prayed. He offered his devotions 1366-68-
on the upper step, the rest of the convent praying below.
Being now admitted to the choir by the bishop, he took
his place, with his pastoral staff in his hand, in the abbot's
stall. There the monks, according to seniority, gave him
the kiss of peace, first upon his hand, and afterwards,
rising, upon his mouth. Returning to the vestry he put
off his robes, and held a chapter, at which he preached.
The feast of his admission followed. Here the convent
received, every man, a gallon of wine, a whole loaf, and
three handsome dishes of fish.*

As there were means, through which a monk might,
without censure, evade the rule as regards the possession
of property, so the black monks had certainly found a
method by which their tables might be served with every
species of luxury. The rule was, that the monks should
abstain from the flesh of four-footed animals ; because
these were nourished from the earth, and the earth was
under the divine malediction, f But the curse did not
extend to the air and the water ; and birds being created
of the same element as fish, were, like fish, fit food for
Christian men.J Fishponds were, therefore, as valuable
to the eyes of a monk, as they had formerly been to the
patricians of Rome, or his coverts to a modern sportsman.
The monks of Westminster claimed a tithe of the salmon

* See Concordia regularum.

f Many says Stevens, have been of opinion that St. Benedict, having
prohibited only the flesh of four-footed animals, had tacitly allowed the
eating of fowls. Holstenius is of this opinion, grounding himself on the
authority of St. Hildegard and Rabanus Maurus. Mabillon dissents.
Stevens, i. 163.

| Le Vceu de Jacob, G5G-G58.

172 LIVES OF TUP:

CHAP, caught in that part of the river which washed thei
_xml- domain. But fish sufficient for the supply of the inlun<
La^hTm. monasteries could not, always or easily, be obtained
1366-68. Here was a case of necessity ; it was necessary, in thi-
case, to dispense with the rule, and if it could be dispenscc
with in one case, a good-natured abbot could find some
other grounds for dispensing with it in another. Meal
was always placed on the table for visitors.* The fact,
that the rule was not strictly observed in the thirteenth
century, oozes out from the statutes of the " reformation
of the order of St. Benedict, or Black monks, consecrated
and enacted at a general chapter of the sacred order in
the year 1249 ; " for there a rule is laid down to the effect,
that brothers, when travelling, should not "eat flesh in
public and in solemn assemblies as the seculars, unless
they have a dispensation." Always they might eat in
private, but not in company without a dispensation. We
know that, long before this, the table of the monks of
Canterbury was indecently luxurious. We have, in a
former volume, quoted the indignant declaration of
Giraldus Cambrensis on this point ; where, instead of
being grateful for the hospitality he had received, ,ie
speaks, with abhorrence, of the numerous kinds of fis-h,
roasted, boiled, stuffed and fried, of the dishes exquisite y
cooked with spices ; of salt meats to provoke an appetite;
of wines, piment, claret, and mead ; f and, although, just

* Ang. Sac. ii. 309.

f Ang. Sac. ii. 480. Peter of Blois complained of the fastidiousne s
which was, in his age, exhibited by the religious. " If a religious," le
says, " has a quick pulse, an inflamed urine, or a dull appetite, he cor-
sults medical men, searches out spices, makes electuaries, and uses no
food not seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. Such i
religious is a disciple of Epicurus rather than of Christ. This," he say* ,
" hurts the head ; this the eyes ; this the stomach ; this the liver ; butte i*
is of a convertible nature; beer occasions flatulence; cabbages ari
melancholy ; leeks influence choler ; peas generate gout ; beans excit -.

am.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 173

after a reformation of the order, Simon Langham was not CHAP.
likely to sanction these excesses, yet we know, inciden- ^ xni
tally, that he was not inclined to enforce the rule of the j
order, in what related to the refectory, with ascetic pre- 1366-68.
cision. The abbot had a separate house, and a separate
table ; for the expenses of which the whole body were, at
least to a certain extent, responsible. Here the abbots often
lived luxuriously, and, as in the case of Abbot Byrcheston,
surrounded by relations, who were bound by no rule, and
who revelled in good-Jiving ; — understanding that expres
sion, in a sense very different from that in which it had
been employed by St. Benedict. One of the first things
done by Abbot Langham, was calculated to make him
popular with the brethren, — a refusal to receive from the
convent anything by way of gift or presents. Such pre
sents had been freely offered, and without hesitation
accepted by his predecessors. They were, probably,
regarded as gratuities for not enforcing too strictly the
rule of the order. The expenditure of Abbot Langham,
though not upon his table, was as we have said, so great
as to excite astonishment ; and yet he would receive no
perquisites, clearly because he had funds sufficient, derived
from his private resources. Instead of receiving donations
from the convent, he told them, that he considered their
portion already too small ; and he took care, in the words
of Widmore, " that the misericordia,"* — or their better

phlegm ; lentils hurt the eyes ; cheese is worst of all ; to stand long at
prayer weakens the nerves ; to fast hurts the brain ; to watch dries it."
MS. Roy. lib. 8, f. xvii. The translation is by Fosbrook. " Nullis
utuntur salsamentis," he renders as " salt fish." It is interesting to find
human nature always the same. How many in these days have a list
of prohibited food, — anything they dislike, — as long as this.

* The word "misericord " implied stated indulgences and allowances,
according to circumstances, of food, drink, wine or beer, or clothing, or
bedding, beyond the rule. The place where a feast was kept, distinct
from the refectory, was called the misericord. Ducange v. Misericordia.

174 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, than ordinary dishes, like to what are now called in oui
.-* r '-' universities, exceedings, or gaudy-days, — " should be com-
Langham. mon to all the monks, and not as they had usually done.

1366-68.

The power of an abbot, within his abbey, was almost
despotic ; and of a mitred abbot the privileges were
commensurate. In the abbey church he was scarcely
distinguishable from a bishop ; he wore the dalmatic, the
mitre, the gloves, the ring, and the sandals, and he held
in his hand the pastoral staff. In parliament, however, the
attire of the abbot differed from that of the bishop. Th sre
he appeared in his gown, his hood, and his cassock.f In
the manors of the abbey, he ruled with full episcopal
authority ; there, he held his visitations ; and when he
entered an impropriate parish, the bells rung out a meiry
peal of welcome. He rode with a hawk on his fist, or a
mule with a gilt bridle, his saddle and its cloth of blood
colour. His retinue of a hundred horse, equalled if it
did not surpass that of a bishop. J

As soon as Simon Langham was comfortably settled in
his high office, he addressed his mind to business. He
found the abbey involved in debt, to the amount of two
thousand four hundred marks. This was occasioned ty
the mismanagement and extravagance of his immediate

* Widmore, 90.

f Fosbrook, 155.

| Such of the abbatial endowments as were held of the king in chie",
or such of the monasteries as possessed an entire barony equal to thir
teen knight's fees, had their superiors summoned to attend parliament
as spiritual lords. This was for a long period, however, regarded as \\
burden rather than a privilege. In the year 1264, sixty-four abbot*
and thirty-six priors sat in the English parliament by virtue of tbs
tenure; in 1278 there were forty; in 1279, seventy-five; in 1307
fifty-six. This number had decreased, in the reign of Edward III., t(
twenty-seven abbots and two priors, and so continued till the dissolu
tion. Even then, as Sir Edward Coke observes, " the spiritual lords
were equal in number to the temporal." Index Monasticus, iv.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 175

predecessors. Langham generously paid the whole from CHAP.
his private funds — with money, according to Selden, > — -^ '-
which he saved while a monk. If a monk had money Langham
to save, a monk must have been able to possess, under
some form or other, property independent of the monas
tery. He could not give what he did not first possess.
Had he paid the debt out of the corporate fund, he
would not have been deserving of the gratitude which
he challenged, or the thanks which he received. But on
this point satis superque has been already said. All that
we have to add is, that he certainly possessed estates dis
tinct from those of the convent. The estates he possessed
as abbot, more than met his professional requirements ;
and by adding to these his paternal inheritance, while he
husbanded all his resources with a generous and self-
denying economy, he became one of the most wealthy
men of the age. Riches were not to him a mammon of
unrighteousness. In an age, when munificence was an
episcopal virtue, few prelates were to be found so muni
ficent as he. While the king and the Prince of Wales,
with a gallant train of knights and nobles, were estab
lishing the military renown of England, and, by their
chivalrous courtesy, were, at the same time, mitigating
the cruelties of war ; the prelacy of England was encou
raging art, and raising architecture to a point of excel
lence never subsequently surpassed. They were fostering
the newly-awakened taste for classical literature, and
endowing colleges, not only for secular priests, but for
the laity also, now beginning to rival the clergy in the
schools of learning.

As prior, and even before, when he was only a monk,
the attention of Langham was called to the improve
ment of the conventual buildings of St. Peter's. Now
that he was abbot, he associated with himself a man of
congenial taste, learning, and habits of business, Nicolas

176 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Litlington. Litlington now succeeded him as prior, and

"VTTT

-r— ' was destined to be his successor as abbot. He has

La^SiTm. share(l the fame, which attaches to both names, for the
1366-68. great and important works, at this period, carried on in
Westminster Abbey. So united were they in the con
duct of these works, that it is difficult to assign the
respective share of each, in what was to both a labour
of love. We shall not, however, be wrong in attributing
the merit of completing the eastern walk of the cloister
to Langham ; because, although we know, from the Fabric
Kolls, that it was erected in 1345, that is, in the time of
Abbot Byrcheston, yet that abbot did not take much
interest in the affairs of his monastery. If he delegated
to Langham the important office of representing tie
convent at the triennial meeting of the Black monks jit
Northampton, we may fairly conjecture, that the ma a
who devoted his fortune to the improvement of the abbey,
was the real author of the work, which reflects honour
on the presidency of Byrcheston. The completion of tha
cloister itself was certainly commenced in 1350 by Abbot
Langham. It proceeded, though slowly, yet regularly,
throughout the whole of his abbacy, being completed by
his successor, out of funds supplied by Langham. The
work is the more interesting, as being one of the earliest
specimens of the perpendicular which we possess.*

As a disciplinarian, Langham was one of those, who
united firmness of character with courtesy of manner and
kindness of heart. He had sagacity to perceive, that
the literal enforcement of a rule might be sometimes a
violation of its spirit ; and that a principle might still
be preserved, even where there was some relaxation in
matters of detail.

The dress of the Benedictines depended in some mea-

* Scott, Gleanings of Westminster, 42.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 177

sure on the discretion of the. abbot, and, according to the CHAP.
nature of the country, whether the climate were hot or * ^~
cold, the regulations were made. It would seem that, in Lan^m
lax monasteries, the monks, like members of the uni- 1366-68-
versity at the present time, would discard their distinctive
dress, and appear like other persons. This custom was con
demned by the statutes of Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. ;
and Langham was particular in enjoining his monks to
wear their religious garments when they went abroad,
as well as in the cloister. They were never to appear
without the cowl and regular habit. They were not to
wear coloured cloaks. They were not to ride with a
costly or irregular saddle, superfluously adorned with
nails. They were not to wear gilt or silvered spurs, or
to have any iron ornament on their bridles. They were
riot to have fingered gloves, or sharp-toed boots ; their
shoes were to be with thongs — round, not sharp. They
were, in no place, to wear a tunic, or to have coverlets of
burnet or other cloth, or skins of wild beasts, or linen
shirts ; but they must sleep in their clothes and girt. They
might not have garments open before and behind. Nei
ther the prior nor any other monk might appropriate to
himself a chamber, horses, or furniture, or contend for the
use of the same. But, if necessity or business should at
any time oblige him to go abroad, he was to be furnished
with necessaries by the president.* One regulation
strikes us as extraordinary, namely, a prohibition against
making bargains in church, except in the time of fairs. f

We are told that, in the judgment of the old monks,
Langham brought the house again under such excellent
discipline, that he deserved the character of a second
founder — a compliment not unfrequently paid to muni
ficent superiors.

Besides the benefactions already mentioned, Langham

* Constitutiones Capituli Gcneralis. Dugclale. f Stevens, 187.
VOL. IV. N

178 LIVES OF THE

bought the place of Sergeant of the Cellar, which, says
Widmore, ' had become a thing of inheritance.' He also
gave, from the abbot's portion, a garden somewhere
within the close, ' called the Burgoyne.' There were
other places in Westminster with foreign names, such as
Petty France, where the French merchants trading with
the woolstaplers chiefly dwelt ; and Petty Calais, where
the staple merchants of Calais had their abode. We are
informed by Mr. Scott, in the " Gleanings of Westminster
Abbey," that French workmen were much employed, not
only in the erection, but also in carrying on the improve
ments at this time in progress, of Westminster Abbey.
Most probably the Burgoyne was the place in which tha
workmen were lodged.

The ten years devoted by Langham to his duties as ab
bot of Westminster were the ten happiest years of his life .

Abbot Langham was brought frequently into contact
with the king, and his merits did not escape such an
acute discerner of character as Edward III. His econo
mical management of the monastic revenues pointed hin
out as a person well qualified for public office; and on the
21st of November, 13GO, Langham was appointed Lore
High Treasurer of England.*

In this office he did not continue a sufficient length of
time to accomplish any important work ; but lie showed
that his heart was still in his abbey. Eight bucks had
been granted by King Henry III. to the monks of West
minster from Windsor forest, and the new treasurer
persuaded the king that the assignment of ten bucks to
such a noble abbey as Westminster would not be con
sidered exorbitant. The monks had a dispensation, we
may presume, to partake of the king's venison, so dearly
prized, although the ostensible object of the grant was

* Foss, iii. 452.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 179

only to assist them in showing hospitality to such of the CHAP.
king's lay subjects as were brought within the precincts •— ^— <
by business or by their necessities. At a future period, Langham.
Langham obtained from the king a present more highly
valued by those of the monks who were not carnal-
minded. It was nothing less than the veritable skull of
St. Benedict himself, together with the clothes in which
St. Peter the apostle was accustomed to officiate. These
were appropriate presents to Benedictines occupying
the abbey of St. Peter. The abbey was, indeed, rich
in relies. It possessed pa*rt of the beam of the manger
in which our Lord was born ; there were vestments
of the twelve apostles ; portions of Lazarus, of Nico-
demus, of St. Anthony, and little bits of other saints and
martyrs ; part of the holy cross and sepulchre ; the veil
of the Virgin Mary ; one great tooth of St. Erasmus the
martyr ; a finger of St. Boniface ; a cloth in which St.
Alban's body had been wrapped ; the head, with the jaws,
teeth, scapula, and sundry small bones, of a saint unknown.
Besides these there were, though never exhibited, the
stones with which St. Stephen was stoned, some of his
bones, and some of his blood ; some of the ribs and
small bones of the Innocents ; also two ribs and some
of the earth wet with St. Lawrence's blood. The monks
exhibited, as the gift of Ethelred, a part of the holy
sepulchre, with the seal thereof ; dust from Tabor, Calvary,
and Olivet, from the place where our Lord washed his
disciples' feet, and from the temple ; also a little of the rust
from our Saviour's knife. Among other things, Edward
the Confessor gave some of the frankincense offered to
our Lord by the Eastern magi, some crumbs of the
bread which He blessed ; a little of the wood of our Lord's
table ; pebbles from the wilderness in which He fasted ; a
portion of the gaol in which He was imprisoned ; great
part of one of the nails of the Cross ; part of the seamless

180 LIVES OF THE

garment, of the sponge, of the lance, and of the scourge ;
a portion of the vestment of the Virgin Mary, of the linen
sne wove, of the window in which the angel stood when
]ie saluted her, of her hair, of her shoes, of her bed ; a
few of the hairs of St. Peter's beard and part of his cro.ss,
with other fragments of dead men and dead women. The
monks of Westminster had received presents from William
the Conqueror, but the Norman kings were not profuse in
their gifts. Henry III. presented the abbey with some
relics relating to our blessed Lord's person, which, out
of feelings of reverence, we shall not state. He gave
them also the clothes, ivory comb, and blood of St.
Thomas of Canterbury. This king also, in the twenty-
eighth year of his reign, commanded Edward Fitzodo to
make a dragon, in manner of a standard or ensign, of red
samit, to be embroidered with gold, and his tongue to
appear as though continually moving ; the eyes were to
be sapphire and of other precious stones.*

The last was a pretty plaything. The other class of
valuables, as they were then accounted, afforded gratifica
tion to the order of mind which is now entertained in
collecting autographs or salivated post-office stamps
That they should be accepted as authentic, or that credi :;
should be given to the miracles they were said to work,
by any but the ignorant, even in the fourteenth century,
would have been in itself a miracle to which, a few years
ago, we should have refused credence. A few years ago,
we should, in speaking of the extraordinary statements
made with respect to relics, images, and certain other
marvels, have predicated deception and hypocrisy on
the one side, and superstition on the other. But we
have lived to see the time when men, of whose ability
and learning, of whose acuteness and honesty, we have no

* Dart's \Vestminster, 26, 37.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 181

right to entertain a doubt, go out of their way to express CHAP.
their belief in what, at one period of their lives, they - ^ . '-•
would have deemed not only as incredible, but also as Langham.
ridiculous. A morbid sentimentality may give rise to an
unconscious dishonesty of mind, and a semi-conscious
determination to be deceived. Men may be self-deceived
before they become the deceivers of others. While the
seared conscience may permit some persons to believe
that deception may be allowable, if the end be to cajole
the ignorant and unlearned, through credulity in small
things, to an acceptance of the greater mysteries of the
gospel ; others, less disingenuous, may make it a point of
religion, even if they suspect the wires by which a
wonder-working puppet may be moved, to abstain from
investigation ; and, in the absence of investigation, to
kneel before the Bambino at Borne, or to raise a shout of
joy at the liquefaction of St. Januarius's blood.

Returning now to the history of Langham, we have to
remark that the bishopric of Ely was offered to the lord
high treasurer in the year 1361, when that see became
vacant by the death of Thomas de Lisle. This was on
the 23rd of June. In the September following the see of
London was vacant by the death of Michael Northburgh,
and it was placed at the option of Langham. Having
already accepted Ely he declined London. It is not difficult
to account for his decision. The chapter of Ely was, and
the chapter of London was not, composed of Benedictine
monks ; and the late abbot of Westminster would feel
more at home with the prior and convent of Ely, than
with the dean and canons of St. Paul's.

On the 20th of March, 1362, Simon Langham was con
secrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, by William of Edendon
bishop of Winchester.*

* Stubbs, 57. Keg. Edendon.

182 LIVES OF THE

The activity of Langham's mind is shown by the fact
that, wliile still retaining his civil employments, he threw
himself heartily into the duties devolving upon him as a
bishop.

In the year 1364 the bishop of Ely, notwithstanding
his labours as a statesman, to which we shall have pre
sently to allude, held a synod at Ely. From the acts of
this synod we derive some information as to the state of
the Church and clergy at this period. The practical
character of the injunctions, bearing, as they do, upon
religious duty, speaks much in favour of Langham.

"We exhort in the name of the Lord, and strictly enjo n
that every pastor of souls and every parish priest know the
decalogue, and frequently preach and expound the same to his
people.

" Let him know also the seven deadly sins (criminalia peccata),
and likewise preach to the people that they avoid them.

"Let him know, moreover, the seven ecclesiastical sacn-
ments.

" And let those who are priests know especially what are
required for the sacrament of true confession and penitence,
and let them frequently teach laymen in the vulgar tongue (iu
idiomate communi) the form of baptism.

(i Let each one also have at least a simple knowledge of tho
faith, as it is contained in the greater and the lesser creed, and
in the treatise called ( Quicunque vult,' which is sung daily a -
prime in the church.

" In the church let him perform divine service wholly anc
devotedly, viz. the lessons, hymns, psalms, and whatever else
is recited in the church, giving a perfect pronunciation of the
words, and a careful attention of the mind to the sense of the
words, lest (which God forbid), instead of a living and perfect
sacrifice, a mutilated or dead sacrifice be offered. Let all
pastors of souls and parish priests, when they have finished
their divine offices in the church, diligently give themselves to
prayer and to the reading of Holy Scripture, that as pertains to
their office they may be prepared to give a reason to every one

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 183

inquiring of hope and faith, and let them be always intent on CHAP

the doctrine and operation of Scripture, like the staves in the ^ XI/L

rings of the ark, that by assiduous reading, as by daily food, Simon

their discourse may be nourished and grow fat." iTce-Gi

Some injunctions follow against the marriage of priests,
gluttony, drunkenness, and frequenting of taverns. No
priest is to carry arms, but he is to have the crown and
tonsure befitting his order.

" We have heard also, at which we have no slight grief, that
certain priests extort money from laymen for ministering penance
or other sacraments.

" We have heard also that certain priests cause their deacons to
hear the confessions of their parishioners, which, as it is absurd,
needs not admonition, since it is plainly true that to deacons
has not been committed the power of binding and loosing, and
since the priests themselves only seek thereby leisure and occa
sion for secular pursuits. Wherefore we strictly enjoin that
deacons shall not hear confessions, or impose penance, or ad
minister other sacraments which priests alone are allowed to
administer.

" The execrable custom, which used to be observed in certain
churches, of making a Feast of Fools, we altogether inhibit by
special authority of apostolic rescript, lest the house of prayer
become a house of sport." *

The denunciation of the Feast of Fools is an evidence
of an improved taste on the part of the people, who
began to see profaneness in such proceedings. On the
17th of December, according to Ducange, the inferior
members of an abbey or monastery were accustomed,
with great solemnity, and with the performance of
certain religious ordinances, to elect an abbot of fools.
In cathedrals a similar ceremony was observed by the
minor canons and other members of the establishment,

* Wilkins, iii. 59.

184 LIVES OF THE

on Innocents' day ; the difference being, that they elected
a bishop of fools. Immediately after his election, the
f°°l elected was carried in procession to the church. As
}ie entered, all rose to show him respect ; the lord
bishop himself, if present, did him homage. A Te Deum
was solemnly sung. And now the saturnalia commenced.
Wine and fruit were given to the bishop of fools. He
then began to intone and to sing in the most ludicroi.s
manner, imitating any peculiarities observable in his
superiors, and provoking a response of laughter, bawling;,
hissing, howling, and clapping of hands — in short, of all
those noises which the vulgar mistake for wit. Tho
porter ascended the pulpit and preached. The bishop
of fools, attended by the minor canons, the choristers,
and various members of the bishop's household, then
rushed into the city, saluting everybody whom they met
They made for the bishop's palace ; and, on reaching it.
the bishop of fools presented himself at the window of
the great hall, and gave his benediction to the town. At
matins, at high mass, and at vespers, the bishop of fools
presided for three days, seated on the episcopal throne ;
and, at Canterbury, on the marble chair. He was in full
pontificals, being arrayed in the vestry with a cope, a
mitre, and gloves, inferior in quality, though of the usual
colour. His chaplain, duly vested, stood by his side,
holding the pastoral staff, and having on his head a little
cushion instead of the Birretum. There was a curious
mixture of solemnity and burlesque. He was duly in
censed on his entering the church, and on his taking his
seat. Before the. Epistle and Gospel, in the office of the
Holy Communion, were read, the deacon and subdeacon
bent the knee before the fool bishop, and received from
him the sign of benediction. Service being concluded,
the chaplain cried out, " Silence, keep silence." The
chorus, replied u Deo gratias." The bishop of fools pro-

AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 185

ceeded with " Adjutorium nostrum ;" and all was done CHAP.

^TTT

which was usual before the giving of indulgences. In- — -,— -
diligences were then granted by the fool bishop, and he Langham.
dismissed the assembly with his benediction. Meantime the 1366~68-
church and the town were one scene of fun and amuse
ment; the chief amusement being to turn into ridicule
all things sacred and serious. The \^ole proceeding, so
far as the church is concerned, seems to us to be a scene
of profaneness. But it was similar to the carnival, as it
still prevails in some foreign countries ; and bishops and
archbishops were so carried away by the hilarity of the
occasion, that they were found very often heartily to join
in it.*

But the mind of the fourteenth century was taking a
more serious turn ; and men like Langham sought to put
down what was certainly, when viewed abstractedly, an
indecency, if not a profanation. We may also surmise
that, as a reverence for sacred things diminished, the
authorities could no longer tolerate what had been re
garded before as an innocent sport.

The generous spirit which influenced Langham as
abbot still animated him as bishop, if we may judge
from one instance of which we have the record. When
he consecrated the new parish church of St. Cross at Ely,
on the north side of the monastery, he bestowed on that
church the vestments in which he celebrated the Sacred
Mysteries, together with all the ornaments ; to wit, one

* Ducange v. Kalenda?. Ducange shows that these feasts were
first introduced to supplant the ancient Saturnalia. He also shows that,
as there must always be a sacred tone of mind in some men, there were,
to please them, condemnations of these amusements in every age. In
merry England, such sports could not be entirely put down until the
triumph of Puritanism, in the early years of the Reformation. See
also Du Tilliot's Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire de la Fete des Fous
qui se faisoit autrefois dans plusieurs £glises. 4to. Lausanne et a
Geneve, 1741.

186 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, red chasuble of velvet, broidered with lions of white

— -r— pearls, with two tunics, one cope, three albs, two

Angham. stoles and habits of the same sort, one large pall cle-

1366-68. pending from the altar, and one small coverlet to be

placed on the altar.*

While he was thus diligent in his diocese, he was at
the same time en^iged in state affairs, at a time when
much public business was transacted. He was, as we
have said, appointed treasurer in the year 1360 ; and in
February, 1363, he succeeded William of Edendon, the
Bishop of Winchester, in the office of Chancellor.f

Notwithstanding the feeling now rising in the countiy,
that ecclesiastics should devote themselves to their spi
ritual duties, the ministry, if we may so speak, which w.is
formed under Simon Langham, consisted for the most part
of persons who derived their chief emolument from tl e
Church : Lord High Chancellor, Simon, bishop of Ely ;
Keeper of the Privy Seal, William of Wykeham, arch
deacon of Lincoln ; Master of the Eolls, David William,
parson of Somersham ; Masters of Chancery, ten bent -
ficed priests, civilians ; Chief Chamberlain of the Exche
quer, William, dean of St. Martin's-le-Grand ; Chancellor
of the Exchequer, William Askeby, archdeacon of North
ampton ; Clerk of the Privy Seal, Richard Chesterfield,
prebendary of St. Stephen's ; Under Chamberlain of the
Exchequer, Keeper of the Seals, John Newnham, parsoi
of Fenny Stanton ; Surveyor of Works, John Nowsly.
parson of Harwich.

The year 1363 was a memorable year. There was a
national jubilee in honour of the king, who had now
completed the fiftieth year of his age. J Three kings were
in England, each compelled to acknowledge the greatness

* Ang. Sac. i. G63. f Foss, iii. 454.

} Knighton Col. 2C27.

am.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 187

of the country and the glory of its king. The king of CHAR
Cyprus was here soliciting the aid of England against the >-^ T '-
infidel, and secretly bewailing the cruel policy which had Langh°n
doomed to destruction that gallant army of gentlemen 136G
which had long and valiantly maintained the Christian
cause in the East — the ill-used and persecuted Knights
of the Temple. David, king of Scotland, was here, no
longer a captive, but humbly pleading for a reduction of
his ransom. John, king of France, was a prisoner in
England.

In the festivities of the occasion the lord chancellor
participated ; but the period of Langham's chancellorship
was a period of political activity, as well as of public
excitement. He opened the parliament of 1363.* The
parliament was summoned for Friday the 6th of October;
but was prorogued till the Friday following, on account
of the thin attendance of members. At that time it met
in the white chamber of the palace. The chancellor
informed the two houses that the king was desirous of
knowing the grievances of his subjects, in order that he
might redress, by the advice of his parliament, any
wrongs done to Holy Church, and reform all enormities,
especially as to the manner of exhibiting petitions.

The custom then was for the government to propose,
and for parliament to accept or to reject, the measures
offered to their consideration. We conclude from the
measures now proposed, that Langham's government was
desirous of conciliating the goodwill of the people, and
that there was an endeavour to unite with certain prin
ciples of free trade, which prevailed in the royal mind, a
concession to the popular clamour for protection. On
the Wednesday after the opening of the parliament, an
act was passed that no man should export woollen cloths,

* Rot. Par!, ii. 275.

188 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, sheep, butter, cheese, malt, or ales. Two exceptions \vere
> — -^— '-* made : one in favour of the German merchants, who were
Lang-ham. permitted to export worsteds and straight cloths ; and

1366-68. the other in favour of the merchants of Gascony, who
were permitted to export woollen cloths to the value of
wines imported.

This measure evidently gave satisfaction; as did the
thriving condition of the country, and the glory which
had accrued to it from the brilliant successes of the kir g.
The Commons humbly prayed that the king would
enjoin the archbishops and other clergy to put up their
prayers to Almighty God for the prosperity of the king,
in order to the peace and good government of the land,
and for the continuance of the king's good intentions 1:0
the Commons.

Among the, proceedings of parliament, two are worthy
of special notice. We observe the increase of power
among the Commons in the fact of their petitioning that
they should have a right to nominate the justices of tli3
peace, and that their nominees should be irremoveabk.
Such a measure could not, of course, be sanctioned ;
nevertheless the king was advised so far to concede, as
to permit the House of Commons to name able men, froir.
whom the king would select whom he pleased. The other
circumstance worthy of note occurred when the chan
cellor, in the presence of the king and both houses.
declared that the king intended to put in force the statute
of apparel. The chancellor asked whether the houses
would proceed to act in such matter by way of ordinance
or of statute. The answer was, by way of ordinance,
in order that they might amend the same at pleasure.
" From this it would appear," says Tyrrell, " that an ordi
nance was regarded as a temporary, a statute as a standing,
law."*

* Tyrrell, ii. 653.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 189

Although Urban V., who was now pope, was born a CHAP.

"VTTT

subject of the king of England, and although his attach- _rr-_
ment to England made some persons suppose that he was an Langham
Englishman, yet the papacy was so entirely under the con- 1366~68-
trol of the French king, that it was determined by the
government, of which Bishop Langham was the head, to
enforce more strictly the statute of provisors. It was a
timely warning to the new pope of what he was to expect ;
and a practical hint that if, like his predecessor, he deferred
too much to France, he might, peradventure, lose England.
But it required some consideration to decide on the
proper mode of proceeding. The government offices were
filled by ecclesiastics, and the Bishop of Ely had reasons
of his own for not wishing to be conspicuous in a measure
which could not fail to excite much anger at Avignon.
It was determined, therefore, to save him from this diffi
culty and in order to give greater weight to the transac
tion, that the business should be conducted by the king
himself.

Under these circumstances, a parliament was summoned
to meet at Westminster ; and it met, accordingly, on the
octave of St. Hilary, the 21st of January, 1365, in the
painted chamber. The Bishop of Ely, as chancellor,
opened the proceedings. He took for his text Psalm
Ixxxix. 14,* "Justice and judgment are the habitation of
Thy throne : mercy and truth shall go before Thy face."
He then went on to say : " Our Lord the king having
seen that God, in His infinite mercy, hath crowned his
arms with success, and hath given him grace to do
righteously ; that He hath blessed the king with loyal
subjects, both among the great men of the land and
among the Commons, who by personal service, by their
grants of money, and by their prayers, have been the
salvation of himself and his possessions, and enabled him

* Rot. Parl. ii. 283.

190 LIVES OF THE

CHAR to assert and defend the rights of his crown ; he thanks
s-Jl_t~l-> these his subjects with all his heart, and prays for the
Lang-ham, continuance of such zeal and loyalty in time to come.
1366-68. jje entreats his nobles, the great men and the commons,
to aid him in the measures necessary for the protection of
the realm and for maintaining the rights of his crown,
by their council and advice, and to assist in the adminis
tration of the laws made in his time and in the time of
his ancestors. The king also wills that those who rre
aggrieved in any matter shah1 bring their petitions befcre
parliament, and promises that they shall have suitable
answer and remedy. To receive such petitions, he appoii ts
the clerks of his treasury, and he will assign to divers of
his prelates and other great men the office of hearing
them and of determining upon their merits."

A speech from the throne dealt in generalities in those
days, and we cannot say that, in this respect, the lapse of
ages has caused any great difference. Eeceivers, triers of
petitions for England, Ireland, Wales, and for Acquitaine
and other foreign countries, were then appointed accorc-
ing to usual form and custom. The reference to foreign
countries, that is, to the king's possessions on the continent,
shows that parliament had not yet reached, in form, tho
position it was beginning to approach — that of being the
great council of the nation, convened to legislate for tho
nation; it was the council of the king, to advise him ir
any matter which was to him of personal concern.

When the speech of the chancellor was concluded, " les
communes des countees, citees, et burghs demorants en
pees en la dit chambre de peynte de commandement le
roi," the prelates, dukes, earls, barons, repaired to the
chambre blanche. There they were addressed by the king.
He complained that citations and false suggestions were
continually made to the pope, with reference to matters
determinable in the king's courts ; and that pensions were

AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 191

still obtained from the court of Rome (la court de Home), CHAP.
to the damage of the king and other patrons in his ^ xni
realm, of churches, chapels, cathedrals, colleges, hos-
pitals, and other benefices. He pointed out how this
was an insult offered to the laws of the land, whilst it
derogated from the dignity of the crown, and had not
only withdrawn treasures from the country directly, but,
by impoverishing the Church, had rendered it impossible
to sustain, in suitable grandeur, the Divine service ; while
it seriously impeded such good works as hospitality and
almsdeeds. He called upon the said prelates, dukes,
-earls, and barons, on whose loyalty and wisdom he relied,
to devise some measure for the correction of the grievance,
and the sustentation of the laws and customs of the realm.

The Commons were then summoned to the white cham
ber. There the substance of the king's address was re
peated to them — it is presumed, by the chancellor.

On the Saturday following an act was passed, repeating
and rendering more stringent the provisions of the Statute
of Provisors and of Praeinunire. Very strong language
was, on this occasion, made use of with respect to the pope
and his pretensions, which it was thought advisable to
modify before the act was placed on the statute book.*

It was supposed that the papal authorities might endea
vour to annoy the prelates on account of their voting for
this act, which was passed unanimously. Another act was,
therefore, passed for the protection of the lives and pro
perties of the prelates and the other lords of parliament.

The gauntlet was now thrown down to the new pope.
Whatever may have been his own predilections, Urban V.,
though a good, was nevertheless a weak, man, and his
court was composed of Frenchmen. The French cardi
nals regarded the king of England's conduct as a chal-

* Cotton's Abridgment, 10.

192 LIVES OF THE

CHAR lenge, and they met it. The pope addressed a letter to
XIIL the king of England, reminding him of the tribute to
which King John had subjected the English crown. He
demanded the payment of a thousand marks a year ; and,
as no tribute had been paid for thirty-three years, he re
quired that the arrears should be transferred to the papal
treasury. Many historians, when they record the derna id
now made at a time when France was in the lowest grade
of humiliation, when the papacy was almost powerless,
and when England had been raised by the victories of
Cressy and Poictiers to the highest pitch of military
glory, are inclined to regard this act as one of insaniiy-
rather than of folly.

But we must take all circumstances into consideration.
King Edward had asserted, by reference to the history of
the country, the right of himself and his nobles to the
patronage of bishoprics and other benefices endowed by
their ancestors. It was not folly in the pope to reply, "If
you argue from the past, I shall put in my claim to th 3
tribute awarded by your ancestors to my predecessors,
and which you have neglected to pay." It may have been
regarded as opening the way to a compromise : " If you
will modify your claim, I will modify mine." There was no
folly in this, though of the amount of folly to which im
passioned men may be hurried, it is impossible to form an
estimate. The French cardinals, with their angry passions
aroused, were only too well pleased to offer an insult to
the conqueror of their country, by reminding him of a
period in our history from which the English mind revolts;
when this country was in a position as humiliating as
that, to which France had now been reduced by the in
vincible Edward and his heroic son. They knew, and
Edward and his ministers felt, that the insult lay in the
fact implied by the payment of the tribute ; that the king
dom of England and the lordship of Ireland were held in

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 193

fee of the successors of St. Peter ; that England, though CHAP.
it had conquered France, was not what France was, an in- ^.XITIL-.
dependent kingdom. Men of little minds are often regard- Leghorn
less of consequences in their wrath, so long as they can 1366~68-
give a momentary annoyance, or offer the slightest in
sult to opponents.

The demand, however, under the circumstances, did
not afford much trouble or annoyance to Edward or to
Langham. They saw that the pope had taken a false
step ; and that by it their hands would be strengthened.
The whole nation, including the clergy, was, with a mi
nority too insignificant to be regarded, anti-papal. The
government took no steps before the meeting of parlia
ment, but merely prepared the way for a burst of indig
nation, by permitting it to be whispered that this insult
had been offered to the king and his people.

The parliament met at Westminster on the 30th of
March, 13GG. The prelates and great men — "les pre-
latz et grantz" — assembled in the white chamber, the
Commons in the painted chamber. On the second day of
meeting the Commons were summoned to the white cham
ber, and the Bishop of Ely, as chancellor, declared, in the
king's name, the reason why the parliament had been
convened. He stated that the king, having appointed his
eldest son to be his lieutenant in Aquitaine, and the Duke
of Clarence, his next son, to act in the same capacity in
Ireland, was enabled to devote his whole attention to the
affairs of England.*

The usual preliminaries in appointing triers and re
ceivers of petitions, or, as we should say, in the formation
of committees, were then gone through.

The next day the king attended in state, at the white
chamber. The Commons were summoned. The Bishop

* Rot, Parl. ii. 280.
VOL. IV. O

194 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of Ely rose : he had already informed them, in general

^1'^. terms, of the occasion of their meeting, and it was no\y

L^ghTm. tne king's pleasure, that he should lay before them the

1366-68. special objects upon which their advice was required.
The king had received information that the pope, on the
ground that King John had done homage for the rea'm
of England and the land of Ireland — "par le roialnie
d'Englcterre et la terre d'Irlande," — and had stipulated
in acknowledgment of this homage the annual pay
ment of a thousand marks, intended to proceed agair st
the king and his realm to recover the said service and
tribute. The king prayed the prelates, dukes, earls, and
barons to give him their counsel and advice as to the
measures to be adopted, if the pope carried his threat in x>
effect and a suit should be commenced.

The prelates requested permission to debate the matter
by themselves, and promised to announce their decision
the next day. The next day the prelates were prepared
witli their answer, and the dukes, earls, barons, and
grandees, " grantz," concurred in the determination — thj.t
neither King John, nor any other king, had any power to
place himself, his realm, or his people under such thral
dom, without their assent and accord. The matter was
laid before the House of Commons, who affirmed what
thus became the unanimous decision of Church and
State. It was then solemnly enacted, by the threo
estates of the realm, — the Clergy the Peers, and the Com
mons, — that, if by process or in any other way the popo
should attempt to enforce his assumed but invalid claim
in this respect, he should be resisted and withstood b}'
the king and his subjects with all their puissance.* This

* The Rolls of Parliament contain a mere dry statement of \vhai
was done in this parliament. That there was a debate is certain, but
the speeches given by Wiclif, in the " Determinatio quaxlam Magistri
Johannis Wyclyff de dominis contra unum monachum," are evidently

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 195

was carried amidst the acclamations of all parties with a CHAP.
unanimity and patriotic excitement which, reported to the * — -^—
pontiff, convinced him that there was that in the English Langham
character which made it unsafe to rouse it to anger.

The king, to mark his own sense of indignation, prohi
bited the payment of the Peter pence.*

The following day petitions were received against the
mendicant orders, from the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge ; and counter petitions, on the part of the
friars, against the Universities. It was determined, by act
of parliament, that no scholar should be received into any
of the four mendicant orders under the age of eighteen
years ; that the friars should not produce any new bull
from the court of Borne, or take advantage of any old
one, in their controversies with the Universities ; and
that any future difference between the parties at issue
should be decided in the court of the king, without fur
ther appeal.f

The pope had recourse to no ulterior measures against
the king. This circumstance confirms the view already
taken, that the demand was employed merely as a reprisal
or an insult, without any expectation of a result different
from that which actually took place.

This controversy, however, obtains importance from
the fact, that it was through it that the celebrated John

not a report of what actually occurred. Though he introduces them as
being those " quas audivi in quodam concilio a dominis saecularibus,"
yet, from internal evidence, they are merely the form in which he thought
fit to express his own opinions. The document is valuable, however,
as it shows that a debate did actually take place, and it is interesting as
expressing the judgment taken against the pope on purely feudal
grounds. This tract impresses the mind more forcibly with a feeling
of the writer's intellectual vigour and logical precision, than any other
of Wiclifs publications with which I am acquainted.

* Barnes, 670, from MS. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C.C.C.C. 232.

t Rot. Parl. ii. 290.

o 2

196 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Wiclif was first brought into public notice. His charac-
_?-^L- ter was well known as a divine, and he ranked high as a
angham. schoolman. In the controversy between the University
1366-68. of Oxford and the mendicant orders he had taken a con
spicuous part, and was ever afterwards the great oppone.it
of the friars, and the strenuous supporter of the secular
clergy. His pen was now employed in defence of the
decision of parliament against the papal claims.

Although the proceedings in parliament had been unani
mous, the superior clergy cooperating cordially with tie
lords temporal and the Commons, yet there was one
person found in England — whether an Englishman or not
does not appear, — who maintained opinions, not then
very common, which have of late years been called
Ultramontane.

Nothing can better prove the unpopularity of the caus 3
which he advocated, than the circumstance that he dared
not reveal his name. This man published a tract in which
he maintained the supremacy of the pope ; and he boldly
asserted that to the pope the sovereignty of England, by
failure of the annual tribute, had, on feudal principles,
been legally forfeited. He challenged Wiclif to come for
ward and refute his proposition. Nobly did Wiclif ac
cept the challenge ; and, in a work to which reference
has been already made, he displayed the ability of a sound
logician, the learning of an educated lawyer, together
with zeal for the Church of which he describes himseli
as a humble and obedient son, proposing to affirm nothing
which could be supposed to damage her cause or offend
the ears of the devout.*

* The general feeling at this time was, that the pope had the
suzerainty of the Church, and that, like other suzerains, he was ambi
tious to exceed his legitimate authority. It is on these grounds that
Wiclif, at this period, opposed him. The advance from one extreme
to the mean in AViclif was gradual ; his descent from the mean to the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 197

Before this publication, John Wiclif had been appointed CHAP.
one of the chaplains to the king. In this very work he ...XI,IL.^
describes himself as the king's peculiar clerk. He was, L^*^
as will be observed, appointed to a post of honour near 1366-68.
the king when Simon Langham was the chancellor — and
as such the chief adviser of the crown. The manage
ment of the royal chapel, and all that pertained to it,
rested with the chancellor. This is an important fact, to
be borne in mind by those who do not believe that any
controversy, at any time, existed between Langham and
Wiclif. During the early period of Wriclif 's career, which
corresponded with the concluding years of Simon Lang-
ham, their political principles were the same. They were
both of them opposed to the usurpations of the papacy ;
and a monk was as much opposed as a secular to the
mendicants.* Although Langham would certainly not
have agreed with Wiclif, when that reformer went to the
root of the evil, and impugned the received doctrines of
the Church ; he probably did go quite as far as Wiclif

other extreme was also gradual. The biographers who seem to think
that he was born an ultra-protestant, on the model of the nineteenth
century, are only surpassed in their presumption by those who would
claim for Wiclif the principles of the Church of England since the
Reformation. A great man is damaged by his worshippers, who, in
seeking to deify him, convert him into a " faultless monster."

* This is mentioned in corroboration of the statements made by
Canon Shirley, in his masterly note on the two John Wiclifs, Fascicu
lus Zizaniorum, 513. His argument to show that the reformer was
not the Warden of Canterbury Hall — that the Warden of Canterbury
Hall was another man, John Wiclif of Mayfield — appears to me to be
so conclusive that I assume the case to be settled. It relieves the
reformer from the suspicion that, in his hostility to the pope, he was
influenced by personal feelings. That Wiclifs temper hurried him,
occasionally, into worse than indiscretions, no one but a hero-worship
per will deny. But, in all the authenticated actions of his life, his
character stands forth noble in its simplicity, and in an honesty of
purpose which raised him far above motives1 merely selfish.

198 LIVES OF THE

had himself gone, at this period of his life. lie was anx
ious to enforce the discipline of the Church, and to adopt
measures for the restriction of pluralities and of non-resi-
c~lence. A moral man himself, he was stern in his rebuke
of immorality on the -part of the clergy ; and would be
attracted to Wiclif by the purity of the reformer's life.

On the death of Archbishop Islip, the primacy was
offered to William Edendon bishop of Winchester, but he
declined it. He is stated to have said, with reference to
the dilapidated condition of the estates belonging to the
archbishop, that " although Canterbury had the highest
rack, yet Winchester had the better manger :" a medie\al
joke is worth preserving. But it is annoying to hear
moderns reviling the aged and infirm bishop for the plea
santry, as if it betrayed a sordid mind ; forgetting the t,
if the manger of Winchester was good, its bishop was one
of the most munificent of men.

The offer of the primacy to the Bishop of Winchester,
when Langham was chancellor, is sufficient to show tin it
the latter was not ambitious of the higher honour. But
when the Bishop of Winchester declined the office, the
Bishop of Ely did not think it necessary any longer to
shrink from a position which he was called upon by
circumstances to occupy.

The king issued his conge d'elire, nominating the Bisho,)
of Ely to the electors. The chapter agreed to postulate
the royal nominee. The king's will was signified to tin 3
pope. The pope obeyed, and the usual bulls were issued.
On the 4th of November 1366, Simon Langham received
the pall at St. Stephen's, Westminster, from the hands o:'
John bishop of Bath.* On the following day, the 5th oi'
November, in presence of the king, at his palace oi'
Westminster, the archbishop solemnly renounced every

* Stubbs, 140.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY. 199

expression in the papal documents which militated
against the royal prerogative, or infringed upon the laws
lately enacted.* On the 25th of March the new arch
bishop was enthroned at Canterbury, with the usual mag-
nificence,f rendered the more gratifying to the people by
contrast with the curtailment of the ceremony and festi
vities on two former occasions.

The archbishop's hospitalities were renewed at the
Manor-house at Lambeth, on the 10th of October, 1367.
On that day he had consecrated William of Wykeham to
the see of Winchester ; and on that day the hall of the
archbishop's residence was filled with guests. Of that
hall there are no remains, the site being occupied by the
more recent fabric erected by Archbishop Juxon. We
may be sure that on this day Nicolas Litlington, abbot
of Westminster, had crossed the water to visit the primate ;
and we may feel equally sure that when 'Simon of Lang-
ham, William of Wykeham, and Nicolas Litlington were
seated at the same board, the conversation was not confined
to those affairs of State in which two of them were bear
ing a prominent part ; but that it was chiefly directed to
the splendid works in progress at Westminster and pro
jected at Winchester. We may imagine how the genius
of Langham and Litlington, great as it was, appeared
insignificant when they listened to the plans which had
already suggested themselves to the mind of William of
Wykeham. They discussed the merits of the perpen
dicular style of architecture which Wykeham was instru
mental in introducing, and of that new arrangement of
those important members of a window of many lights,
—the mullions and tracery lines.

* Ang. Sac. i. 663. The words are — " renunciatione pura et spon-
taneaipeT ipsum facta de verbis prsejudicialibus in Bullis suis contentis."
Ibid. " Honorifice sicut decet."

200 LIVES OF THE

When Simon Langliam was translated to the see of
Canterbury, the following clever verses were put into cir
culation. They may be read as two hexameters, or as
rhymes.

Laetantur coeli, quia Simon transit ab Ely,
Cujus in adventum flent, in Kent, millia centum.

Notwithstanding his duties as a statesman, we have seen
that Langham did not neglect his diocese. In every situa
tion of life, we find him deferential to his superiors, cour
teous to his equals, and kindly considerate of his inferiors.
We may, therefore, regard the verses either as a witticism
intended simply to amuse the idle ; or we may treat
them as the splenetic effusion of some disappointed candi
date for his favour and patronage. How bitter, and hovr
unjust, such persons may be, every patron is well aware.
Every great man must give some offence; if he prefers
one man out of ten, he disappoints nine, who regarc
themselves as ill used, and their merits as neglected. His
tory, which is in some respects enlightened by contem
porary libels, will be entirely falsified, if these are not
checked and moderated by bringing them to the test of
facts. We must oppose to this libel the testimony of the
monks of Ely. They describe their bishop as a venerable
father, and as a discreet and provident pastor.* The

* Aug. Sac. i. 1G4. They also say that he was preferred by Urban
V., moved " fama bonitatis ejus et scientia circumquaque volitante."
Parker, no mean authority, says : " Hie Archiepiscopus in tola vita, om
nibus quae gessit muneribus, non minus providens atque sagax quam
beneficens et liberalis fuit." Dart, who is followed by Mr. Foss, says of
this primate, that " he was affable, humble, temperate, and very munifi
cent," It is necessary to mention these things, for Lord Campbell, as it
would seem from mere caprice, speaks in disparagement of Langham.
Lord Campbell says he was ambitious, and in Lord Campbell's eyes this
is a grievous sin ; free, of course, from ambition himself, he never loses
an opportunity of denouncing it. The following extraordinary passage,
however, may serve to show that Campbell had not examined this por-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 201

verses, therefore, did not express the sense of the diocese CHAP.
in general. At the same time, Langham's attachment to _1^_^
the monks may have caused him to be unpopular with Langha™
the seculars. It is not, however, my concern to vindicate 1366~68-
the conduct of Langham. The reader will judge from the
facts of his history, and they certainly make an impression
on my own mind in his favour. I do not find any other
evidence of his having been unpopular ; and, whatever may
have been the feeling on his first arrival at Canterbury, it
is certain that, after he had resigned the see, his restoration
was desired.

He met, at this time, with an accident which was
regarded, says Birchington, as an event of ill omen.
Immediately after his taking possession of the see of
Canterbury, like a good man of business, he visited all
his manors, and arranged all matters among his tenants
with great prudence and care. While thus engaged, he
was journeying towards Otford, one day, on the king's
high road, when the horse of his cross-bearer stumbled.
The rider was thrown to the ground. The man's life was
saved, but the cross itself was " terribly shattered," though
it was soon repaired.

The archbishop, soon after his consecration, resigned
the Great Seal, and his friend, William of Wykeham, was
appointed Lord Chancellor. The record of the proceed
ings does not exist.* But, although the Bishop of
Winchester is mentioned as Chancellor on the 16th of
September, yet the archbishop opened the parliament

tion of history with the slightest care : — " Among those with whom he
quarrelled at Canterbury, was the famous John Wiclif, then a student
at the college there erected by Islip, his predecessor. The ardent
youth being unjustly expelled, and finding no redress for the wrong he
suffered, turned his mind to church usurpation, and prepared the way
for the reformation which blessed an after age."
* Foss, iii. 434.

202 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, which met in 1368.* Writs of summons were issued for
-TT— — ' the first day of that month, but, as many members had not
Langham. yet arrived, the archbishop, in the king's name, thanked
68> those who had shown their zeal by an early attendance,
and adjourned the parliament for three days. On Thurs
day, May 4th, the king being present, the archbishop, as
prolocutor, informed the parliament that the king yielded
unto God most humble and hearty thanks for havirg
given him the victory over all his enemies ; as also for
the peaceable and flourishing condition of the realm, and
for the loyalty of his subjects, who were always ready to
render him personal service, and to assist him by their
property. These blessings he desired, as much as in hiri
lay, to continue, or rather to increase. That in this reso
lution he might better succeed, he had at this timo
summoned his parliament, to confer with them on
matters relating to the premisses.

The Prelates and " Grantz " were ordered to assemble;
in the " Chambre Blanche," and the Commons in the
"Petite Salle." On the Friday following, there was a
debate in the House of Lords on the offer of peace made by
David Bruce, king of Scotland, on condition of his being
discharged from homage. The proposal was rejected with
indignation by the lords. It does not appear, that the
lower house was consulted upon the subject.

Thus happily terminated the political career of Simon
Langham.

Advancing years had by no means diminished the
activity of the primate. Almost immediately after his
appointment, he commenced a visitation of his province.
In London, he terminated a dispute concerning tithes
between the citizens and the clergy, the Bishop of London
fully concurring in the arrangement. He arranged that

* Hot. Parl. ii. 29-1. Parry, 130.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 203

a payment should be made to the clergy, after the rate of CHAP.
a farthing for every ten shillings rent of the houses, on «_-T_L
each Sunday and festival of the year which had a vigil. Lan^hTm
This scheme of Langham's was confirmed by his sue- 1366-68'
cessors ; and the tithes were paid in this manner until
the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. At that time,
by a decree of the archbishop, the chancellor, and the
privy council, confirmed by parliament, the payment was
settled at two shillings and sixpence in the pound. * The
archbishop, acting under the influence of a public opinion
which affected the mind even of Urban V., endeavoured,
if not to suppress, yet to diminish the number of plurali
ties ; making a distinction between benefices with, and
benefices without, cure of souls. He found many of the
clergy endowed with twenty benefices, and sometimes
with a greater number, to which cure of souls was
attached.

Whether the Constitutions, published afterwards in the
name of Langham, be genuine or not, is a question not
easily answered. It is not necessary for us to investigate
the subject, for in these Constitutions there is nothing
worthy of special notice. Scotales or drinking-bouts, in
which the prize was given to the man, who approached
nearest to the condition of brutal intoxication, without
being laid prostrate beneath the table, were still common,
and were too often encouraged by the clergy. The arch
bishop, as his predecessors had done, denounced the evil
custom, and advocated the cause of temperance. He dis
covered in the course of his visitation, that the most crude
opinions were prevalent in various parts of the country,
and especially among men of some reputation for learning.
Langham, with his business-like habits and clearness of
perception, arrayed the heresies he had detected under

* Widmore, 95. Wharton de Episc. Londinens. 80. Wilkins, iii. 62.

204 -LIVES OF THE

CHAP, thirty heads. Every earthly pilgrim, it was asserted,
^— - whether adult or infant, whether Saracen, Jew, or pagan,
^iTm. yea, even he who should die in his mother's womb, would
5~68< have a clear vision of God before his death, during which
vision he would have a free choice accorded to him of
being converted to God ; if he should then be con
verted unto God, he would be saved ; if not, he would
be damned. Sin committed during this clear vision,
on account of a perverse choice, could not be atoned for
or forgiven — "non est remediabile nee remissibile ;" even
the passion of Christ cannot make satisfaction for such
an offender — " si intelligatur de clara visione viatoris."
An adult may be saved by the natural law — "de leg 3
communi salvari " — without either actual or habitual faith
in Christ. Of the sacrament of baptism it was said that it
is not necessary to the salvation of any who die in their
infancy ; and with respect to infants who die after baptism.
Catholics might doubt whether they be saved or damned.
It was seen how closely connected is infant baptism with
the doctrine of original sin, for it is added that it was impos
sible that any man could be damned for original sin alone.
Man could only be condemned for actual sin. For every
sin committed by believers, it was contended that there is
a sufficient remedy in nature, by which the pilgrim might
return to the condition in which he was before he com
mitted sin. No one could be justly deprived of his heavenly
inheritance for sins committed without a clear vision of
God. Nothing could be sin merely on the ground of its
having been prohibited — positive law was here set aside.
The Father, it was asserted, is finite in Divine operations,
the Son is finite in Divine operations, and the Holy Spirit
alone is infinite. It was, moreover, affirmed that God
cannot annihilate anything ; nor can He punish any one
immediately, because He cannot be a tormentor — " non
potest esse tortor." In the 24th, 25th, and 26th articles

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 205

it is maintained, that Mary, the blessed Mother of Christ, CHAP.
and all the other saints — our Lord only excepted — are ~__^_1^
still liable to sin and damnation. The eternity of future Langham.
punishments is strongly denied. It is affirmed that those
who are damned in hell and the devils themselves are
capable of salvation, that they may repent and be eter
nally happy ; that God Himself could not create a rational
being who should be impeccable.*

It would appear, that they who propagated these doc
trines had formed themselves into a school, though not into
a distinct sect. They were merged, probably, into the
Lollards afterwards ; but they were, at this time, few in
number. It is curious to find the Church, in the four
teenth century, disturbed very nearly in the same manner
as in the nineteenth. These heresies chiefly prevailed
among men of thought and learning, and therefore Lang-
ham addressed a letter to the University of Oxford,
requiring that no one should be permitted to defend these
propositions in the schools. At Oxford, the erroneous
teaching was traced to the obnoxious mendicants, who
were " originally instituted to root out, by their preaching
and holy living, the various heresies as they should arise
in the Church." This circumstance is sufficient to show
that such teaching had not been countenanced by John
Wiclif, the leader of the party most opposed to the friars.

The intellectual excitement was not confined, however,
to the educated classes of society. The archbishop dis
covered that demagogues were at work among the labour
ing classes ; and, as has been so frequently the case in
English history, a projected political movement was masked
under the form of religion. He selected for censure one

* Manclatum Simonis Langham de publicando damnationem certorum
articulorum v. idus Novembris, A.D. mccclxviii. Ex Reg. Langham.
fol. 70. They are printed in Wilkins. In the translation given above
they are abbreviated.

206

LIVES OF THE

CHAP, man especially, John Ball, who will come more promi-

,_, nently before us hereafter. For this reason, and because

:,angham. ^ shows the manner of dealing with such characters as
1366-68. John Ball in that age, the mandate addressed by the arch
bishop to the Dean of Bocking on this subject, is presented
to the reader in a translation :—

Simon, Archbishop, £c., to the Dean of Bocking, in our im
mediate jurisdiction, and to other all and singular rectors, vicars,
and parochial chaplains, greeting, &c. It has come to our
hearing, through public report, that one John Ball, pretending
that he is a priest, within our jurisdiction aforesaid, preaches
manifold errors and scandals, both to the detriment of his ow i
soul and of the souls of those who favour him in his proceeding,
and to the manifest scandal of the universal Church. We,
indeed, being unable to tolerate healthfully a proceeding of thii
kind without injury to our conscience, intrust to you, and com
mand you, conjointly and severally, strictly enjoining that al.
and singular those who are under the jurisdiction of our said
deanery, according to form of law, you effectually admonish,
and each of you, as much as in you lies, warn effectually,
peremptorily inhibiting them from presuming, any one of them,
to be present at the preachings of the said John, under
penalty of the greater excommunication against all who do not
canonically obey these admonitions aforesaid, through their
negligence and fault, which we desire that they may thus ipso
facto incur. Those who object or offend, if you find any
such, or any you discover acting in this way, you are to cite
or cause forthwith to be cited, that they appear before us,
on some certain day of trial, which you will see is to be
appointed wherever we may then be, in our city, diocese, or
province of Canterbury. You are also to cite, or cause to be
cited forthwith, the said John Ball to appear personally before
us on some certain day of trial, which you will see to be
appointed for him, to make answer on certain articles and
enquiries touching the correction and the safety of his soul,
objected to him by our office, and if need be personally swear to
speak the truth and obey the law in all things. And what you
may have done in the matters aforesaid, you are to certify to us

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 207

in words, on the day and at the place, by your letters patent, or CHAP,
let him certify by his own, containing the series of these, and xm- ,

the names and surnames of the citers.* Simon

Langham.

At the same time, the primate addressed a mandate
to the Dean of Booking, with a view of defending the
clergy from the mischiefs occasioned by the irregularities
of the friars. The friars caused infinite confusion in
various parishes, setting up altar against altar, preaching
against the parochial clergy, and, in fact, acting the
part of dissenters. He desired that they should not be
permitted to officiate in any parish, unless they exhibited a
special licence to do so, either from the pope or from the
archbishop.f

While Langham was employed in condemning heresy,
he was encouraging a superstition, which, if not heretical
at that time, would certainly be condemned by the present
generation. He authorised and enjoined a hymn in honour
of St. Catherine, in which she is invoked by prayer. The
hymn is too long for transcription, but is, as a composition,
not without merit. Why he should, at this especial time,
have selected St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, for the
particular devotion of the English Church, it is not easy
to surmise. The name of Catherine of Sienna may
already have reached England, and have suggested this
attention to her namesake; but of the St. Catherine whom
Simon Langham desired to honour we know little. The
name is still preserved in a species of firework, the
Catherine wheel being so designated as representing
the instrument of torture upon which the virgin martyr
suffered. She was placed upon an engine made of four
wheels joined together, and stuck with sharp-pointed
spikes ; so that when the wheels began to move it was
expected that her body would be torn asunder. Her acts
state that, at the first stirring of the terrible engine, the
* Wilkins, Ex Reg. Langham, G4. f Ibid.

208 LIVES OF THE

:HAP. cords were broken by the invisible power of an angel,
the engine fell to pieces, the wheels being separated one
from the other. This the firework represents. Her
translation, also, is familiar to us by a beautiful picture
of which many engravings have been made. Her mar
tyrdom took place in the fourth century, and her body
was discovered by the Christians of Egypt in the eighth ;
it is said then to have been carried by angels to the
great monastery on the top of Mount Sinai.*

One of the first acts of Langham, as archbishop, was to
require the clergy to be prepared to arm their tenants
and retainers that they might act as volunteers, in time
of war, in the event of any invasion of this country.f
The last act of his episcopate was to call upon all men to
unite in prayer, that the pestilence, now reappearing in
the country, might be averted or cease. He desired that
processions should be made on the fourth and sixth days
of every week, with the accustomed singing of the Litany,
enjoining each clergyman to add such suffrages as might
be divinely suggested to his mind. To those who
attended the processions he granted an indulgence of
forty days, " trusting in the mercy of Almighty God, and
the merits and prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His
Mother, the holy Thomas, the glorious martyr, and all
the saints. "J

* Butler in loc. Jos. Assemanni in Calend. Univ. ad Nov. 24, v.
375. Falconius, archbishop of San Severino, quoted by Butler, speaks
of the translation as follows : — " As to what is said, that the body of the
saint was conveyed by angels to Mount Sinai, the meaning is that it
was carried by the monks of Sinai to their monastery, that they
might devoutly enrich their dwelling with such a treasure. It is well
known that the angelical habit was often used for a monastic habit, and
that monks, on account of their heavenly purity and functions, were
called angels."

f Wilkins, iii. 66.

J Ibid. iii. 74.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 209

There is one transaction in Langham's life which has
obtained more prominence, than it deserved, from a blun-
der made by those historians, who held a brief for Wiclif,
and by the biographers of the great reformer. They have
confounded Wiclif, the Master of Canterbury Hall, with
the object of their hero-worship ; and they can scarcely
find language strong enough to express their indignation
against the primate who, as they assert without adducing
any proof to confirm their assertion, did him wrong. We
have already alluded to this subject, and we have shown,
that there is more reason to suppose, that Langham was
friendly to the reformer than otherwise. He was the keeper
of the king's conscience when Wiclif was made the royal
chaplain ; and Wiclif had not yet propounded any doc
trines, or evinced any tendency to conduct which Lang-
ham would condemn. But, be this as it may, there was
nothing really to blame in Langham's conduct as to Can
terbury Hall. He may have been influenced, and perhaps
he was, by a narrow party spirit. He was a monk, and a
favourer of monks ; hostile, like Wiclif, to the mendicants,
but preferring a monastery to a college. But it is to be
remembered, that his judgment was confirmed upon an
appeal ; and to assume that the papal courts were
already hostile to Wiclif, or that they must, by the fact of
their being papal, be corrupt, is a mere begging of the
question. Corruption enough there was in all courts ;
but, unless there is some strong temptation to corruption,
which cannot be here supposed, the tendency of a court of
justice is to decide justly. They could not exist, if this
were not the case. Injustice is the exception, not the
rule, in the worst cases.

Archbishop Islip had founded Canterbury Hall. Monks
and seculars were to live together, as he hoped, in peace.
He placed a monk over the establishment ; this monk
mismanaged its affairs. Islip deposed the monk, and

VOL. IV. P

210 LIVES OF THE

nominated Wiclif of Mayfield as his successor. Arch-
bishop Langham was called upon, as visitor, to restore
tne first warden, Woodhead. It was contended, that
Woodhead had not been statutably removed, and that the
founder was in his dotage when he made the change.
The question would turn on two facts. Founders generally
reserved to themselves the right to make alterations in
their statutes during their lifetime. The first question,
then, to be decided was whether Archbishop Islip had
made this reservation in his own favour. If Islip had
reserved to himself the right, then the question might be;
raised, whether, in carrying it into effect, he was in his
dotage and incapable of rational action. We have no
data or evidence to justify us in giving an opinion on the
subject. All we know is, what the judgment of Lang-
ham was, acting as a judge ; and that, on an appeal, his
judgment was confirmed.

This is the plain statement of the case.

The manor Langham selected for his favourite country
residence was that of Otford. Here he was seeking re
creation and rest, when messengers arrived from Montefi-
ascone, where Urban V. was then residing, with the an
nouncement, that on the 27th of September, 1368, the
pope had promoted Simon Langham to the dignity of a
cardinal presbyter by the title of St. Sixtus. There were
many things, which commended this appointment to the
mind of Langham. He did not, perhaps, picture to him
self the meadows, the orchards, and the mulberry planta
tions in the vicinity of the town ; or the promenade of
elm trees running the circuit of the walls, of which
those who, in our age, have visited Avignon have a very
pleasant remembrance. These were not likely to be as at
tractive to him as they are to us in a more civilised age,
although Petrarch had already taught men a love of the
picturesque. But the noise of those many church and

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 211

convent bells, which disgusted Eabelais, who gave to CHAP.
Avignon the name of La Ville Sonnante, would be as ^-^r— ^
music to the ears of the sometime Abbot of Westminster. Langhart
He would think with pleasure, of dwelling in the midst of
a city abounding in churches and religious establishments.
Although Petrarch was not now at Avignon, yet Langham
knew, that he had been strongly urged to revisit that city—
an invitation which only his declining health prevented
him from accepting. Richard of Bury was an acquaint
ance of Petrarch, and to the friendship of Petrarch, as
much distinguished now for his piety as he had been for
merly for his genius and learning, Langham might fairly
aspire. Petrarch was indeed engaged at this time on his
book, "De sui ipsius et multorum aliorum ignorantia,"
against some foolish pedants, who, in their ignorance, as
sailed the Pentateuch and the Scriptures in general ; and
Langham might anticipate a conference with the poet, upon
whom the eyes of all Europe was fixed, on such a subject
as this. The palace of Avignon, moreover, was not now
what it had been under Clement V. The present pope,
Urban V., was a devout, meek, and humble man, who
still lived as a monk amidst the splendours of royalty.
He was the patron of learning and the protector of learned
men. To form part of the family of such a pontiff seemed
to Langham to be passing into another monastery. At the
same time, he knew Urban to be a weak man, easily in
fluenced by those around him. His predilections were
known to be towards England and her heroic king ; but
he was always found acting with her enemies. Even now,
when he astonished the world by nominating one English
and one Italian cardinal, he yielded so far to the French
interest, that he included in the batch of cardinals six
Frenchmen. It occurred, therefore, to the sagacious mind
of the aged English statesman, that it would be of vast im
portance for England to have a representative, in what

212 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, was really, if not avowedly, a hostile court. The cardi-

_XIIL . nalate was not now, as it soon after became, a post of

^Tm. honour, involving only duties which a non-resident might

1366-68. discharge. The cardinals were required to reside at

the papal court, to fill public offices, and to officiate as

judges in the various tribunals. They acted as the privy

council of the pope ; and to have in that council, at that

time, a patriotic Englishman, might well be regarded as .1

matter of importance.

With these impressions upon his mind, Langham re
ceived the intelligence of his nomination to the cardinal -
ate with satisfaction ; and hastened immediately to West
minster, fully expecting that, by the long-sighted king, the;
same view would be taken of the political advantages or
the appointment.

But the pride of Edward prevented him from entertain
ing any feeling, except that of indignation, that the pope
should dare to summon to his councils a subject of the
King of England, without first signifying his intention to
the king, and obtaining his consent. He felt very much as
the King of Prussia might now be expected to feel, if un
known to him, the Emperor of Austria were to nominate
one of his ministers to become a counsellor of the Aus
trian empire.

An English king has seldom been accustomed to mo
derate his anger, or to place restraint upon his passions.
Langham was astonished and astounded by the violence
of Edward's feelings against one whom lie had honoured
with his friendship. We have had an exhibition of the
same violence of anger and the same placability in the
history of Archbishop Stratford.

By the common law of England the nomination of
Langham to the cardinalate had rendered vacant the pri
macy of England. Simon Langham, now Cardinal of St.
Sixtus, had, on his nomination, ceased to be Archbishop

ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 213

of Canterbury. The king seized the temporalities of the
see and appropriated them to his own use.*

Langham did not murmur or complain. He felt cer
tain, that the time would come, when the king would see
the matter from a different point of view — and it was so.
Although the primacy was forfeited, yet Langham felt
that he might have been reappointed. But this he did
not propose.

Langham asked permission to remain at Otford, till he
could complete his preparations for sailing. Here he was
forsaken by many of his former retinue. They had no
wish to expatriate themselves. His appointment to an
office in a court regarded as hostile to England, ren
dered him immediately unpopular. The rents by which
a large household was supported were, to a great extent,
paid in kind. Money was scarce ; and yet now Langham
had to pay in money for everything he required. He
was obliged, therefore, to apply to the clergy of the
deanery of Shoreham to advance him, on loan, a certain
sum of money, to be raised by a rate of fourpence in
the mark. While he was at Otford he was reduced to
such difficulties that, it is stated, he was obliged to sell
his staurum.f

He applied for leave to quit the country, but did not
obtain it until February. On the last of February, the
Ex- Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Langham, sailed

* In some books it is said that Langham announced his appointment
to parliament, and that parliament was consulted by the king. But no
parliament sat after May in this year ; and in 13G9 parliament did not
meet till June. Langham had sailed for the continent in February.
Widmore says that " In the style of business of those times, a person
appointed cardinal was discharged by the pope from his obligation to
attend a particular church, that he might be employed in the service
of the Church universal."

f Staurum, any store, or standing stock of cattle, provisions, etc.
Kennet, Glossary.

214 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, for the continent. He landed the next day, being a

XIII. mi -i

, — • Thursday.

an^ham Soon after his arrival at Avignon, Cardinal Langham
366-68. ]ia(j j;O lament the deatli of his patron, Pope Urban V.
Urban was succeeded on the papal throne by Peter
Eoger, a nephew of Clement VI., and son of William.
Count of Beaufort. The new pope, who took the name of
Gregory XI., was a young man ; and he knew the value
of such a counsellor as Langham, whom he employed on
several important missions.

Friendly relations were soon re-established between
Cardinal Langham and Edward III. The king became
aware of the advantage of having a friend to England at
the Court of Avignon ; and, as in the case of John Strat
ford, he endeavoured to obliterate the memory of* the
past, by heaping favours upon the friend who had borne
so meekly the outburst of his passion. He allowed him
to style himself the Cardinal of Canterbury. He called
him his dear and faithful friend.* He permitted the car
dinal to hold a prebend in York, the archdeaconry, toge
ther with the treasurership of Wells and the deanery of
Lincoln. This was done by the king, in defiance of the
laws of the land ; but he probably supposed, that the
appointment of an Englishman, though a cardinal, to these
situations was a legitimate exception to the rule. The
House of Commons, however, were of a different opinion.
They were not, perhaps, aware of the services rendered to
the English crown by Langham ; and when he was ap
pointed to the deanery of Lincoln they complained, f

* Foedera, iii. 932, 970. Notre cher et feal amy le Cardinal dc
Cantebirs.

f Rot. Parl. ii. 339. It may be well to show from a contemporary,
the feelings with which preferments in the Church were at this time
regarded. Writing to Francesco Bruni, the apostolic secretary,
Petrarch says, that he would gladly accept from the pope a living

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 215

In the year 1372, Cardinal Langham was associated CHAP.
with the Cardinal of Beauvais in a mission to the courts — _,_ -
of England and France, for the purpose of mediating a Langham.
peace. The two cardinals met at a town in Flanders, where
they remained for four days in consultation, and then re
paired to the French court.* From France they passed over
to England. It was doubtful how the cardinals would be
received by Edward, and measures were adopted to pro
cure for them proper respect. In 1371, Gregory XI.
published a bull, prohibiting all patriarchs, primates, and
archbishops from carrying the cross in the presence of a
cardinal or other representative of the Church of Rome.f
The nuncios were, at the same time, invested with extra
ordinary powers. They were commissioned to consecrate
or order the consecration of churches — those probably,
and they were many, which had, through the neglect of
the diocesans, been left unconsecrated. They might purify
cemeteries which had been polluted by the burial of here
tics, having first exhumed and cast out their bodies, if
discovered. They had full authority to visit exempt
monasteries, which, from the laws against papal inter
ference, had been left for several years unvisited. They
had considerable powers of granting benefices. One
hundred women of high birth and rank, to be named by
the nuncios — some of them " with four honest matrons " —

without care of souls, the care of his own soul giving him sufficient
employment. Such a donation would add to the comforts of his old
age. He had no cause of complaint ; he kept two horses, and five or
six amanuenses ; but self-invited guests besieged him, and the expenses
of hospitality were great. He also wanted to build an oratory to the
Virgin Mary, and if he did not obtain some further preferment, he
should be obliged, for that purpose, to sell his books. Though not in
priest's orders, his preferments were already considerable. Variorum
Epist., 43.

* Fabyan, 484.

f Wilkins, iii, 90.

216 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, were to enter and visit any convent of females, but not

-p — - to eat or sleep therein. The nuncios had power to

angham. absolve thirty persons who had committed homicide or

68' mutilation on deacons or archdeacons, with a form of

penance, scourging in the church.*

There were several who availed themselves of the
power of absolution which the nuncios possessed ; but
with the exception of these and the visitation, perhaps,
of some of the exempt monasteries, the cardinals had
neither the time nor the ability to exercise the authority,
which the pope assumed the power to confer. The anti-
papal spirit was at its height in England, and any viola
tion of the laws of the land would have been immediately
resented. Neither was Langham inclined to forget his
duty as an Englishman, though he now appeared as the
representative of a foreign court. When he came into the
presence of the king, he immediately, to the disgust of
his French coadjutor, doffed his hood as a mark of respect
—a mark of respect not shown in his interview with the
French king ; for this he received a reprimand from the
court of Avignon, where it was reported that what he
did was in derogation of his own dignity.

The offer of mediation was contemptuously rejected on
either side ; and the reason assigned by the court at Avignon
was that, as the nuncios had been, one the Chancellor of
England, and the other the Chancellor of France, they
were each of them too much attached to the interests of
their respective princes. f Nevertheless, Langham's visit
to his native country was not without some political suc-

* This, taken from a manuscript in the British Museum, is quoted
by Dean Milman, v. 389. The important facts from this interesting
manuscript have been pressed into his service by Dean Milman, with
that wonderful skill by which he grasps what is important amidst a sea
of rubbish.

f Baluzius, i. 427.

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY. 217

cess. Although the result of the legation was not what CHAP.
was intended, he succeeded in effecting a peace between
the King of England and the Count of Flanders.*

While in England, the cardinal viewed with interest
the works carried on by his successor in Westminster
Abbey, and encouraged him to proceed by promising
him pecuniary support. He also visited the convent at
Canterbury, and with his usual munificence presented
each monk with a piece of gold ; which was afterwards
misrepresented in the light of purchasing their votes in
the event of the see of Canterbury becommg again
vacant.

At the commencement of the following year, he re
turned to Avignon. Here, having explained away,
with a craven spirit, the mark of respect shown to the
King of England,f he was advanced by Gregory XI. to
the title of Cardinal Bishop of Prseneste. After his visit,
however, to England he lost his influence at the papal
court.

In 13T4, on the death of Archbishop Whittlesey, the
Chapter of Canterbury, without consulting the king, and
not forgetful, it is said, of the Cardinal's gold, made a
postulation for Langham to be his successor. J But the
king, at that time entirely under the influence of the
Duke of Lancaster, had determined to reward Simon
Sudbury, Bishop of London, for services he had rendered
to the Duke of Lancaster's party ; and the convent of
Canterbury were threatened with the penalties of a pra3-
munire. The pope's inclinations coincided with those of
the king, for, in serving the Duke of Lancaster, Sudbury
had also served the papacy ; and the postulation was
refused, on the ground that Langham was an able man of
business, and could not be spared from Avignon.

* Foedera, iii. 953. f Ang- Silc- *• 794. J Ibid.

218 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. But Langham's heart was still in England ; and when

X"TTT

rr— - the plague returned here in 1374, he obtained two bulls

LifnghTm. fr°m tne pope, granting full pardon to all who died in
1366-68. penitence, and were unable, from the absence of the
clergy, to receive sacerdotal absolution. Although we
do not see any peculiar advantage to be derived from
such a proceeding, it was the means, no doubt, of afford
ing much peace to troubled consciences, in the absence of
all spiritual consolation through the dearth or the neglect
of the clergy.

Langham was also in frequent correspondence with the
Abbot of Westminster. From letters preserved in the
archives of the abbey, we learn that Langham had deter
mined to establish certain chantries at Westminster and at
Kilburn, and he also had set his heart on rebuilding the
west end of the abbey. For the accomplishment of the
first object, he gave a thousand marks to purchase an
estate productive of forty marks a year. He was urgent
to have the works of the abbey carried on without
loss of time, and contributed six hundred marks to
the subscription which the monks were raising for that
purpose.

The pope, towards the close of Langhani's life, was ex
pected to leave Avignon for Eome, much to the dismay of
the English cardinal. He could not bear the thought of
being removed so far from England, and from the works
which, with his advice and chiefly at his expense, the abbot
was carrying on in Westminster Abbey. He had long since
ceased to have influence in the papal councils of Avignon.
What was he, an aged man, to do in a country so strange
to him as Italy ? He wrote letters to the king entreating
his permission to settle in England. The Duke of Lan
caster was now the ruler of England, the king was in his
premature dotage, and Langham did not receive the imme
diate answer he expected from his dear old master. He

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 219

was not likely, however, to meet with opposition from the CHAP.
papal court. They no longer wanted a man of business — ^__
there, whose eye was ever cast towards the shores of Langham
England, — alas ! not now an object of fear. The councils 1366~68-
of the English cardinal were received with suspicion, in a
college of cardinals composed almost entirely of French
men.

At length, the royal consent was signified to him by
letters. He hastened to the pope, and obtained his per
mission to retire. He wrote to the Abbot of Westminster
to provide him with lodgings within the precincts of the
abbey, promising the assistance of his advice as well as
of his purse for the completion of the works in progress.
He conferred with French architects, and enlisted in his
service skilled artisans. In making his preparations for
his departure, the old man felt young again. One fine
day in June, he was conversing on the subject. He was
in high spirits and apparently in good health. He
was rejoicing in having now almost accomplished what
had for many years been the object of his life, when he
was struck down by a paralytic stroke. Physicians were
sent for, but medical aid proved to be useless. The
attack was a fatal one. He lingered for a couple of
days, and on the 22nd of July, 1376, Simon Langham
breathed his last.

His will was opened, and his wish there expressed was,
that, if he died at Avignon, he should be buried in a
church of the Carthusians, which had been lately built,
and towards the erection of which, he had contributed
with his usual munificence. To a vault in the church of
the Carthusians his body was therefore consigned.

A copy of his will is to be found in the appendix to
Widrnore ; in it we may say, that lie left Westminster
Abbey his residuary legatee. We have already mentioned,
that his benefactions to the abbe}r, including the debts of

220 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, his predecessors, which he discharged, amounted to ton
thousand eight hundred pounds, recorded in the two
following verses :-

1366-68.

Ees, ^Es de Langham tua Simon sunt data quondam
Octingentena librarum millia dena.

Three years elapsed, and the grateful monks of West
minster had by that time prepared a tomb in St. Benet s
Chapel, whither the body of their benefactor was brought
and re-interred with all due solemnity.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 221

CHAPTER XIV.

WILLIAM WHITTLESEY.*

Obscurity of early life. — Educated at Cambridge. — Master of Peter-
house.— Nephew of Archbishop Islip. — Studied canon law at Avig
non. — Judge of the Court of Arches. — Archdeacon of Huntingdon. —
Bishop of Rochester. — Translated to Worcester. — Translated to Can
terbury. — Recurrence of the plague. — Enthronization conducted pri
vately. — Maintains Edward's right to call himself King of France. —
Whittlesey a confirmed invalid. — Unable to attend parliament. —
Sent his proxy. — Only officiated once at a consecration. — Depressed
condition of the country. — Return of the plague. — Party feeling. —
Clergy first regarded as professional men. — Attempt to form a lay
government. — Clergy required to arm themselves. — Offences against
Statute of Mortmain. — Clergy taxed by parliament. — Whittlesey
attends convocation. — Preaches. — Breaks down. — His illness. —
Anti-papal spirit among the clergy. — Embassy to the pope. — Its
failure. — A congress proposed. — Oxford empowered to elect its
Chancellor. — Otford. — Its medicinal waters. — Whittlesey at Lam
beth. — His will. — His death.

OF the personal history of William Whittlesey little CHAP.

is known. He is supposed to have been a native of > —

Whittlesey, a town situated near the great mere of the whitdc-
same name in the county of Cambridge ; f and his

* Authorities : — Walsingham, Birchington, Continuatio Hist or 183 de
Episcopis Wigorniensibus. Capgrave.

f Fuller, Worthies, ii. 99, places Whittlesey in Huntingdonshire,
and, in his quaint way, says : — " No reputed author mentioning the
place of his birth and breeding, he was placed by us in this county,
finding Whittlesey a town therein, so memorable for the mere, and

1368-7-i.

222 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, education at the university of Cambridge may be regarded
- as confirmatory of the tradition. He became a member
whittle- of Peterhouse, in which house the collegiate system in-
1368-74 stituted at Oxford a few years before by Walter de
Merton, was introduced into Cambridge through the muni
ficence and wisdom of Hugh de Belsham, Bishop of Ely.
From Cambridge, according to a custom, still observed,
of attending lectures at more than one university, he;
went, as we are informed by Wood, to Oxford. But he
returned to Cambridge in the year 1349, when he became
Master, " Gustos," of his college — the third in succession
from the founder. It was a time of much activity in
Cambridge, but Whittlesey is not mentioned as having
taken an active part in the proceedings of the University.
William Whittlesey was the nephew of Archbishop
Islip, who made himself responsible for his education.*
By the advice of the archbishop, he devoted himself to
the study of the canon law ; and, to complete his legal
education, he became a student in the papal courts at
Avignon. While there, the archbishop appointed him
proctor of the see of Canterbury ; and this appointment was
the means of bringing him a considerable business, when
the student became a practitioner. He was recalled, by
his paternal friend, to England, when a vacancy occurred
in the Court of Arches. Of this court the nephew of the
archbishop was constituted the judge. If he retained this
office when he was appointed Master of Peterhouse, he had
the means of defraying his travelling expenses, for he was
rector both of Croydon and of Cliff. He was collated to
the archdeaconry of Huntingdon in the year 1337.f

presuming that this William did follow suit with the best coat in that
age, surnamed from the place of their nativity."

* Simon Islip, Archiepiscopi Consanguineus. Ang. Sac. i. 535.
Green says he was his sister's son.

f The entry in Hardy's Le Neve stands thus : " William Whittlesoy

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

While he was Archdeacon of Huntingdon, he sat in judg- CHAP.

ment in the celebrated case of Thomas de Lisle, Bishop of «

Ely, on which case some remarks have been made in the \vhittT-

life of Simon Lnnnrn * sey-

***• 1368-74.

It tells well for Archbishop Islip, that he provided for
his kinsfolks, and despised the absurd cry against nepotism.
A man should die rather than appoint an unfit man, to a
public office ; but when, among many men sufficiently
qualified, there is one who is his kinsman, then, by the
very fact that God, in His providence, has brought that
man near to him, he is bound to select him as the special
object of his favour. The archbishop was, at this time, in
bad health. He sought for and found affectionate assist
ance in his nephew ; and William Whittlesey, grateful for
the education bestowed upon him by his uncle, found
pleasure in proving his gratitude, by attending to the
interests and the wishes of his aged kinsman.

In the year 1360, the see of Bochester became vacant
by the death of Bishop Sheppey.f In the infirm state of
the archbishop's health, it would be a great comfort to
him — and when discussing the subject of a successor to
Sheppey, it could not fail to appear to both uncle and
nephew that it would be advantageous to all parties — for
the bishopric to be held by William Whittlesey. He had
invariably conducted himself with more than respect-

was admitted on Tuesday, the feast of St. John (June 24, 1337), to
the archdeaconry of Huntingdon (Coll. Kennett), on the death of It.
Brenchell." If so, he was again appointed 20th June, 1343. Pat. 17.
Edward III. p. 1, in. 15.

* Hist. Eliensis.

f John Sheppey had been a lawyer of some eminence. He was
Lord Chancellor in 135G-8; Lord Treasurer in 1358. He was Prior
of Rochester before he was a bishop. He was consecrated at St. Mary's,
Soutlnvark, to the see of Rochester, on the 10th of March, 1353. He
died at La Place, Lambeth, on the 19th of October, 1360. Fuller's
Worthies. Stubbs, 53.

224 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, ability, in the various offices for which he had been

^.JL^J^ selected by his uncle's discernment or affection. The

wwttT Bishop of Eochester, moreover, was a kind of vicar to the

1368-74 Primate9 wno' a^ter tne conquest, occupied a situation

similar to that which, before the conquest, had been filled

by the suffragans of St. Martin's. When the metropolitan

was abroad, or engaged in provincial visitations, the chief

management of the diocese of Canterbury devolved upon

the Bishop of Eochester. It was on all accounts impor-

• tant that a good understanding should exist between the

Bishop of Eochester and the Archbishop of Canterbury,

and so it was arranged that the bishopric of Eochester

should be obtained for Whittlesey.

Since the days of King John, the primate had not
retained the absolute power he, at one time, possessed, .of
nominating to the vacant see. But he still exercised the
same kind of control which was, in other dioceses, exer
cised by the king. The conge d'elire was issued in the
name of the primate ; and he invested the bishop elect
with the temporals. If he withheld the temporalities, the
chapter would find it difficult to secure the services of a
well qualified person for the bishopric. The endowments
both of the bishopric and of the chapter were compara
tively small ; and to avoid litigation was an object.
Therefore the influence of the archbishop was still so
great, as to be tantamount to a nomination. But the
monks were sufficiently awake to their own interests ; and
I suspect that they made a bargain with the aged primate
on this occasion. Certain it is, that we find a certain
suspicious Carta Simonis Islip, Cant Archiepisc. qua restituit
ecclesiam de Boxley Monachis Eoffensibus — a restitution
made soon after the consecration of Whittlesey.* Certain
it also is, that the nominee of the primate was duly elected,

* Registrum Roffense, 181.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 225

His election was confirmed at Avignon, jure provisionis, CHAP.
on the 31st of July. 1361. Everything was conformable • r-1—

, . „ , . Al WiUiara

to the late regulations of royalty in regard to the other whittie-
dioceses. The primate nominated, the chapter elected his 136^.'74<
nominee, and that nominee was confirmed by the Pope ;
each party adopting a formulary, which had become little
more than a form.

William Whittlesey received the temporals from his
uncle, on the 25th of December, 1361, at Otford, and pre
parations were immediately made for the consecration.
The archbishop desired to officiate himself ; and his age
and infirmities rendered it necessary for him to have the
consecration performed privately, in his chapel at Otford.
Here he had the satisfaction of laying hands on his
nephew, on the 6th day of February, 136 2.* But the extra
ordinary thing is, that he was not assisted by a single
diocesan bishop. Islip was not popular with his suffra
gans ; but the favour of assisting at the consecration was
to be sought at their hands by the prelate who was to
be consecrated. Whatever may have been the cause, if
what is said of Islip be true, he would not be sorry to
plead his infirmities as an excuse for not incurring the
expense of entertaining diocesan prelates, with their
princely retinues, even if he had accommodation for them
at Otford. His coadjutors at the consecration were
Eichard, Archbishop of Nazareth ,f then acting as a suffra
gan of Canterbury, and Thomas Bishop of Lamberg,
acting as suffragan to the Bishop of London. J

* Ang. Sac. i. 378.

f Richard, Archbishop of Nazareth, was elected October 10, 1348,
and was consecrated at, Avignon, by Bertrand, Bishop of Sabina, shortly
before the issue of the Bull of Provision, 8th Dec. He was suffragan
for Canterbury, 1349 ; for Worcester, 1350 ; for London, 1361 ; for
Ely in the same year. He died in 1366. Stubbs, 143.

J John Lambergensis Mr. Stubbs regards as the person sometimes
called John Langebrugge, " Buduensis." But Thomas seems to have

VOL. IV. Q

226 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The uncle and nephew worked well and happily toge
ther till 1364. The infirmities of Islip increased. The
income of the see of Kochester was small. The arch
bishop wished to bequeath all his savings to the col
lege he had founded at Oxford ; and therefore, when, by
the translation of John Barnet* to the see of Bath in 1363,
a vacancy occurred at Worcester, Archbishop Islip deter
mined to use his influence with the king to obtain the
bishopric of Worcester for the Bishop of Eochester. It
would not be necessary for the Bishop of Worcester to
reside. Although La Place, the residence of the Bishops of
Eochester in Lambeth, was nearer to the archbishops
manorhouse (now called the Palace) ; yet the inn in Lor -
don of the Bishop of Worcester was near St. Mary-le-
Strand ;f and so, without much difficulty or loss of time,
the nephew might row up the river whenever the primat3
might require his advice or assistance.

The king's permission, therefore, being obtained, tho
chapter of Worcester postulated the Bishop of Eochester ;
and, on the 6th of April, 1364, the translation of William

been a different person. John was appointed suffragan of Wells. In
consequence of the number of unauthorised bishops who were acting a.'
suffragans, his commission was renewed in 1362. Stubbs, 144.

* John Barnet, though not distinguished as a lawyer or a statesman
held the office of High Treasurer of England in 1362. He was Eector
of Dereham in 1351, Canon of St. Paul's in 1354, and in the April of
the same year he was installed a prebendary of Lichfield. He was
Archdeacon of Bath, of London 1359, and of Canterbury 1361. He
was consecrated to the see of Worcester on the 20th of March, 1362;
was translated to Bath in 1363; to Ely in 1366. At Ely he had
established an interest, having been chaplain to Bishop De Lisle. He
died at Bishop's Hatfield, June 7, 1373, and was buried at Ely. Fuller.
Bentham's Ely. Green's Worcester. Stubbs' Registrum.

•f Pennant, 149. A void piece of ground in front of this inn was
leased by one of Whittlesey's successors, for building purposes, for the
yearly payment of one pound of pepper and a supply of garden stuff to
the Bishop's family when resident in London.

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 227

Whittlesey was effected. He does not appear to have CHAP.
resided at his new see. 'But when he was enthroned he ^_SZi
found the prior and convent in a state of great exultation. wSie
The prior had just obtained from Urban V. the confirrna- 13g^;74
tion of a bull of Clement VI., by which the use of the
mitre and pastoral staff was conceded to him and his suc
cessors for ever.

Two years afterwards, the Bishop of Worcester
mourned the death of his benefactor and patron, who
departed this life on the 26th of April, 1366.

All that can be said of Whittlesey is, that he was a
man of commanding presence, eloquent, and discreet. It
so happened, that, a man of discretion, and one who had
not been mixed up in politics, with no ambition to become
a statesman, was required to fill the metropolitan throne
of Canterbury, on the resignation of Langham. Whit
tlesey was such a man ; and, as such, he was recom
mended for the primacy to Edward III. To the will of
the king, when he required the chapter of Canterbury to
postulate the Bishop of Worcester, the monks of Christ-
church yielded. Ihe pope, under the circumstances of
the country, even if he had possessed the inclination,
would not have ventured to disregard the royal man
date; and by a bull, dated the llth of October, 1368,
Whittlesey found himself primate of All England and
metropolitan. It must have been to his own surprise, if
of modesty he possessed a single spark.

It was under mournful circumstances, however, that he
prepared for his enthronization. For the third time, the
plague had made its appearance in the land. Whether
Whittlesey partook of the economy or penuriousness of
his uncle is not known, but, of course under the circum
stances the religious ceremonials of the enthronization
could only be observed ; and, to the disappointment of
the citizens of Canterbury, the feast was omitted.

Q 2

228 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. In the parliament, which assembled in the May of 1369,

• — ^— the primate had to bear a part, though not a very conspi-

whiX cuous one. After the treaty of Bretigny, King Edward

1368-74 ha(l renounced the title of King of France. But that

treaty had now been grossly violated by the French king.

The question, therefore, was put to the archbishop and

other prelates of the Church of England, in the king's

name, by William of Wykeham, the chancellor, whether

King Edward might not, notwithstanding his stipulation

to the contrary, resume, under the circumstances, the title

of King of France.

The archbishop and prelates took two days to delibe
rate on this case of conscience. When, on the third day,
the parliament had reassembled, the archbishop in the
name of his brethren delivered their judgment. They
were unanimous in their decision that, by the infraction
of the treaty on the part of the French, the king was ab
solved from an oath, which was only binding so long as the
opposite party abided by the terms of the treaty to which
they had been jointly sworn ; and that Edward might, with
good conscience, resume and use the titlf of King of France.

In this sentence, the dukes, earls, barons, and commons,
with equal unanimity, concurred. The king immediately
gave orders, that a new seal should be made : and from that
time, till the reign of George III., the Kings of England
continued to have their arms quartered with those of France.

Soon after his appointment to the see of Canterbury,
Whittlesey became a confirmed invalid. In 1371 he
excused himself, on this ground, from attending parlia
ment, and sent his proxy to the Bishops of London,
Worcester, and St. David's.* There were eight bishops
consecrated during his primacy, and he was only able to
officiate once. On that single occasion, when he con-

* Reg. Whittlesey, fol. 40. This is, perhaps, the earliest form of
a proxy that we possess. It is printed in Wilkins, iii. 89.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 229

secrated Thomas Arundel to the see of Ely, he was CHAP.

XIV

obliged to officiate privately, in the chapel in which he -
himself had been consecrated, that of the archiepiscopal mittie-
manorhouse at Otford.* 1368-74

In short, Whittlesey was neither physically nor intellec
tually adequate to the exigencies of his position or the
requirements of the time. Never did the Church stand
more in need of a sound judgment and a vigorous mind.
The national spirit, a little while before, exuberant with
enthusiasm and hope, was now depressed ; and for that
depression there was ample cause. The plague, having
appeared for a third time, might, it was feared, visit the
country periodically. The pestilence, hominum et grosso-
rum animalium, had been accompanied with a great inun
dation ; and a scarcity was the consequence, f The glory
of Edward's reign was setting. Through his reckless ex
travagance, in spite of all remonstrances, the country was
reduced almost to a state of bankruptcy. The storms were
gathering around his throne which overwhelmed his suc
cessor. There were reverses abroad. Spain, as well as
France, was in arn^s against this country. Aquitaine was
disaffected. At the same time, a strong feeling was rising
in the country against the clergy, and it was fostered by
men in power.

The government was weak, through the increasing in
capacity of the king. The powers of the royal mind had
been prematurely excited, and the king in consequence
had become prematurely old. He seems to have gradually
sunk into an imbecility, the extent of which was concealed
from the public. He was not hors de combat, but his mind
was easily swayed by any persons, who were brought into

* Four of the consecrations took place at Avignon ; but still, the fact
that Whittlesey only once exercised the highest function of his office,
and that in private, confirms the report of his long invalidism. For
two out of the six years of his primacy he was confined to his house.

f Adam de Murimuth Cont. 205. Walsingham, 186.

230 LIVES OP THE

contact with him. The Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt),
calling himself, in right of his wife, King of Castile, endea
voured first to bend William of Wykeharn, Bishop of Win
chester, to his own purposes ; and failing in that, his ob
ject was to drive him from the palace, that the king
might be entirely under the control of his mistress, Alice
Ferrers — a lady of great beauty and many accomplishments,
but evidently, foreseeing the precariousness of her position,
bent upon realising a fortune. With her John of Gaunt en
tered into a close alliance, and, for the first time, formed a
political party in the country, which sought its object not
by force of arms, alone or chiefly, but through parliament.

The Prince of Wales was abroad. Euniours reached
the country that his health was failing. Suspicions were
beginning to be entertained that John of Gaunt was plan
ning to secure the succession to the Crown for himself, if
anything should happen to his brother.

The party he formed, though afterwards unpopular,
was at first powerful. In the House of Commons the mid
dle class was represented, and many came to London with
their minds inflamed against that portion of the inferior
clergy, who were too often acting as pettifogging attorneys
in the provinces. In the House of Lords there were many
now aspiring to public situations, who did not wish to
qualify themselves for office by submitting to the re
straints which would be imposed upon them by taking
holy orders. If the high offices of State might be held by
clergymen, why not by soldiers, when soldiers no longer
treated learning with contempt?

As the object of the Duke of Lancaster's political dis
like was the Bishop of Winchester, he sought to strengthen
his party by enlisting into his service everyone who was
opposed to the clergy, high or low.

Hitherto the clergy had only been a part of the people.
They, like others, might fight as soldiers, advise as physi-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 231

cians, labour as farmers, discuss as lawyers, give judgment CHAP.
as judges, serve the country as diplomatists, and the king . — -^
as statesmen. They had not formed a distinct profession. whita
But now, when learning was no longer despised, and con- 13gg^74
sequently was not a monopoly of the clergy, men were
beginning to feel that the law might be made a distinct
profession, — so might diplomacy, so might statesman
ship ; — the military profession was already established.
If this were the case, then the clergy formed a profession:
if theirs was a profession, let them adhere to it, perform
the duties of it, and not encroach upon the duties of other
professions.

Many years were to elapse before this conversion of
the clergy into mere professional men — instead of being,
as heretofore, subjects ready for the performance of any
duty anywhere, for which learning was required, — would
be an admitted fact ; but the tendency was in that direc
tion, at this time. It was now that the clergy were first
attacked as a body ; it was now first that they began to
show a party, a professional spirit — an " esprit de corps."

The Black Prince, when he returned to England, be
came alarmed at the ambitious inclinations discernible in
his brother. He naturally took the side opposite to the
duke ; and, as Lancaster endeavoured to sway the king's
mind through Alice Ferrers, the prince called to his
councils his father's old friend and adviser, William of
Wykeharn.*

The ill-health of the prince prevented him from coming
prominently forward. Hence the two parties now formed
were headed, really if not ostensibly, by the Duke of
Lancaster on the one side, and the Bishop of Winchester

* " Ther was a priest about the Kyng of England called Sir Willyain
TVycam, who was so great the Kynge, that all thyng was done by hym,
and without hyni nothinge done." Lord Berners' Froissart Chron.
ccxliv. 1, 364.

232 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, on the other. The bishop's chief ally and supporter was
XIV' - a man of the highest rank and family — a man well quali-

to resist a Flantagenet — William Courtenay, Bishop of
10sey- . Hereford, of whom we shall have hereafter much to say.

1368—74.

The plans of the Duke of Lancaster were wisely laid.
He had the sagacity to see that the House of Commons
might be made the arena for party warfare. In forming
the parliament of 1371, the friends of the Duke of Lan
caster and of Alice Ferrers were very successful. Through
the sheriffs, by whom a return to parliament might be
much influenced, and to whom Alice Ferrers wrote in
the king's name, a parliament favourable to the Duke of
Lancaster was returned; and a direct attack upon the
Bishop of Winchester was made, through a petition to
the king, complaining that the government for a long time
had been managed by " men of Holy Church, — gentz de
seinte Esglise, — whereby many mischiefs and damages
had happened in time heretofore, to the dishonour of the
crown, — en desheritesoun de la coroune, — and the great
prejudice of the said realm: that it would therefore
please the king that laymen — lays gentz — of the said
realm, of sufficient abilities, and none others, ought, for
the future, be made chancellor, treasurer, clerk of the
privy seal, barons of the exchequer, controller, or other
great officers or governors of the kingdom ; and that this
matter might be so established that it should never be
defeated, or anything done to the contrary, in time to come,
saving to the king the removal and choice of such
officers, yet so as they should be laymen."*

* Collier, iii. 131, points out the inconsistency of the averments in
this petition with the preamble of the Statute of Provisors, where it
is said : — " Kings, in times past, were wont to have the greatest part of
their council of prelates and clerks, for the safeguard of the realm ; and
that the pope, by forcing foreigners upon patrons, impoverished the
council-board and disappointed the government." But what was
expedient at one time might be inexpedient at another. The clergy,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 233

The king's answer was, "Le roi ordeinera sur ceo CHAP.
point sicome lui semblera meltz par avis de son bon » — -^-^

.-i ,, «, William

conseil. whittle-

The party, through Alice Ferrers, was nevertheless 13gg^74
strong enough to prevail upon the king to accede to the
desire of his faithful commons. Sir Robert Thorp was
appointed lord chancellor, instead of the Bishop of Win
chester ; Lord Scrope of Bolton became lord treasurer, in
the room of the Bishop of Exeter. But the movement
was premature, f For many years to come, the Kings of
England were obliged to call ecclesiastics to the council,
to consult them as lawyers, to employ them as diploma
tists, and to place them on the judicial bench. It required
a considerable lapse of time to enable the lawyer, the
physician, and the diplomatist to earn a livelihood from
their respective professions, independently of that extra
neous assistance, if we may so call it, which they had
hitherto derived from the emoluments of the Church. After
the present experiment had lasted for four or five years,
the Duke of Lancaster himself suggested the appointment
of a clerical chancellor in Adam of Hough ton, Bishop of
St. David's.

in the first instance, were regarded simply as subjects ; in the second
instance they were treated as professional men.

* Rot. Parl. ii. 304. The times were felt to be full of peril to the
clergy, who had never before been attacked as a body : — " Adversariis
nostris quasi ad januas insultantibus." Wilkins, iii. 79. " In isto
parliamento," says Walsingham, " ad petitionem dominorum in odium
ecclesiae amoti sunt episcopi de officiis Cancellar. et Thesaurar. et
clericus de private Sigillo," 180 ; or, as Capgrave expresses it : — " In
this yere, 1371, lordes asked that the bischoppes schuld be removed
fro the offises Chancelere, Tresorer, and Privy Sel, and that temporal
lordes shuld have the offises. And so it was fulfilled indede ; and all this
was done for hate of the clergie."

t From the times of Thorp and Knyvett, in 1372 and 1373, the
chancellors continued to be ecclesiastics till the promotion of Sir
Thomas More, by Henry VIII., in 1530.

234 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. But now the party was determined to follow up the
^J^_^ victory. An attack was premeditated upon the purse of
WhiS the clergy, to which we shall have occasion presently to
,o!oy%, recur. But as it took some time to mature the measures

1368-74. . .

now designed, it was determined to prepare the way by
an attack, as it were, upon their persons. The ministry
which superseded that of William of Wykeham suggested
the following proclamation to the king, which was offen
sive, because it insinuated that the clergy were backward,
in what related to the defence of their country. It wa&
addressed as a circular to the bishops in Latin :—

As we have now newly learned for certain that our French
neighbours and others their adherents have collected a great
fleet of ships with a great multitude of fighting men and persons
in arms in divers parts on the seacoasts, and are hastening to
prepare themselves as quickly as possible for shortly invading
our realm of England, making war on us, the said realm, and
our people, and to the utmost of their power destroying and
subverting our dominion and the Church of England, we, wishing
to provide for the preservation and defence of the church and
realm aforesaid in every way with our whole power, as is
fitting, and calling to mind that you and the other prelates and
the whole clergy of the said realm, together with our other
faithful servants, are held bound to lend your helping hands to
resist our said enemies for the security of Holy Church and the
said realm, firmly enjoin and command you. by the faith and love
by which you are held to us, that in consideration of the heavy
losses and perils hanging over us through the attacks of our
enemies aforesaid, all abbots, priors, religious and other eccle
siastical persons whomsoever of your diocese, all excuse being
put aside, be armed and arrayed with competent weapons, viz.
every person between the ages of sixteen and sixty, according
to their condition and means, and that you cause them to be
set in thousands, hundreds, and twenties, so that they may be
ready and prepared for proceeding with our other faithful sub
jects against our said enemies of our realm of England, to make
war upon them with the help of Grod, to destroy them, and to

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 235

drive off and crush their malice and insolence. And this, as CHAP,

you love us and our honour and yours, and the security of Holy ._XIV> ^
Church and of our realm aforesaid, do you in no wise omit. "William
Witness myself at Westminster, the 16th day of June, in the sey.
year of our reign of England 46, of France 33.* 1368-74.

The condition of the Church and the state of public
opinion weighed heavily on the mind of Whittlesey. He
felt deeply his incapacity to take his proper place in the
country. He consulted physicians, and was ever expect
ing to have a remedy prescribed for his disorder, wThile
they found it difficult to decide on the precise nature of
the complaint under which he suffered. He lingered at
Otford, where he had early found a home and, in his
predecessor, an affectionate kinsman.

Meantime the financial difficulties of the country were
increasing. It was necessary to have recourse to strong
measures to replenish the exhausted treasury ; and to the
credit of the king, it must be observed that, unlike his
ancestors, he was anxious that the measures should be
conducted on constitutional principles.

The House of Commons determined to deal with the
property of the clergy and of the religious houses ; and
the clergy had, unfortunately for their cause, placed them
selves in the wrong, and thus had laid themselves open to
attack. The Statutes of Mortmain, which had been
enacted in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I., and had
been renewed under Edward III., declared that it should
not be lawful for any person, religious or other, to buy,
sell, or receive under pretence of gift, any lands or tene
ments without the king's licence. f Yet, in spite of this
enactment, lands had been received, and the Statutes of
Mortmain had been transgressed. The parliament was,

* Ex. Eeg. Whittlesey, fol. 162.

| 9 Henry III. c. 36. 7 Edw. I. c. 2. 18 Edw. III. c. 3.

236 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, therefore, perfectly justified in deciding, that in the great

*- t> '-^ tax voted in 1371, all lands should be included in the

whittle1- rate which had passed into mortmain since the eighteenth

1368-74 year °^ Edward I. Whether it was equally justifiable to

enforce payment from small livings hitherto exempt is not

quite so clear.*

That the parties concerned, the clergy of that age,
should feel indignant at the course pursued, and that they
fehould not regard the proceeding with that impartiality
with which we are able to view it, is only what one
could expect. They simply saw an aggression, a novelty ;
for ecclesiastical property had hitherto been regarded, in
the eye of the law, as sacred. They could not but sus
pect, and perhaps they were not wrong, that the object
was to get in the thin end of the wedge, — and what
would follow might be easily surmised. Then, again, the
clergy had really a strong case, if we pass over that in
fraction of the law to which we have referred. At this
period, a violation of the law was not unusual, for laws
were generally regarded as enactments to meet a present
difficulty or grievance. When that end was answered,
they were not more binding than are the present laws of
the Church of England upon a clergy who, in every rank,
are found to violate them with impunity, though they
may, at any time, be called to account. The property of
the Church was not subject to parliamentary taxation,
and never became so until the reign of Charles II. But
while the parliament taxed the laity, the clergy, taxing
themselves, were the most heavily-taxed portion of the
community. Not only were they compelled, when the
king was either despotic or weak, to contribute more
than their quota to the expenses of the court, the army,
and the country, but they had also to submit to various

* WaLsingham, 186.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 237

exactions on the part of the papal court. Eepeatedly CHAP.
had they petitioned the government to protect them from v XIV'
the pope, but scarcely ever did they obtain redress, until winttie
the laity as well as the clergy became objects of papal ex- ul^H
tortion ; or until the country, impoverished by the money
which passed from this country into the papal coffers, was
made practically to understand that what affected one
portion of the community could not fail, after a time, to
have an influence upon the whole body.

Depressed and feeble as he was, Whittlesey felt deeply
the state of public affairs, and the treatment which the
clergy experienced, at this time, from the parliament. He
deplored his own impotence; and in 1373, when another
subsidy was demanded of the clergy, he determined to
leave his sick-room, and, at the risk of his life, to make a
public protest, if he could do nothing more, against pro
ceedings which, if he could not prevent, he could at least
condemn. He was a man of acknowledged eloquence ;
and he determined to open the convocation with a ser
mon which would enable him to address not the clergy
only, but the people in general. It did not require much
skill to convert a " concio ad clerum" into a general
declaration, when the congregation consisted of all classes
of the citizens of London.

The convocation met at St. Paul's. The great west
door was thrown open to receive the metropolitan, at
tended by the diocesan. The whole staff of the cathedral
presented themselves, arrayed in their most splendid copes.
All were eager to look upon the archbishop, who had
been so long confined to his house and his room. His
form was bent ; he could hardly walk, though supported
by his chaplains ; his gorgeous apparel seemed to sit so
heavily upon him as almost to extinguish him. Yet there
was fire in his eye. His face, usually so pale, was now
flushed. The excitement of his mind made itself visible

238 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, in every feature of his countenance and every movement
,_- of his body. The Bishop of London attended the
whittle^ metropolitan to the stall which had heen prepared for
1368-74 him, anc^ ^ien went to his throne. Instead of preaching
from his stall, the archbishop, with tottering steps, ascended
the pulpit that he might be the better heard.* There was
a solemn silence, for it seemed as if the aged prelate were
about to utter his last words. He took for his text
John viii. 32, " Ye shall all know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." He preached in Latin. The deep
tones of his well-managed voice were heard through the
aisles. He proceeded to argue, from these words, that it
is the duty of the clergy to propagate and maintain the
truth ; and that, for their works' sake, they were free from
ah1 taxation, except that which was self-imposed. f He
had scarcely stated his argument and the plan of his ser
mon, when his voice sank into a whisper. His nerves
gave way, his strength failed. He sank into the arms of
the chaplain, who held his cross ; and, through a congre
gation both terrified and sympathising, he was borne out
of the church, was placed in his barge, arid was rowed up
to Lambeth.

The Bishop of London, Simon Sudbury, immediately
waited upon the archbishop, and received the proper in
struments to constitute him president of the convocation.
The proceedings of the convocation, under the direction
of Courtenay, Bishop of Hereford, were conducted with
moderation and decorum. There was no attempt to dweU
upon the privileges of the clergy, theoretically — a course
which the archbishop, not a very practical man, had evi
dently intended to pursue ; a course which could only
have the effect of exasperating enemies, without earning
friends. Complaint was made, and in the complaint the
whole nation concurred, of the prodigal expenditure of the

* Parker says, as if to mark an unusual fact, suggestum ascendens.
f Parker, 380. Wilkins, iii. 97. Fuller's Worthies, ii. 100.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 239

court and the royal family. It was stated that, while all CHAP.
the people were aggrieved by the heavy taxation conse- . — -^ '
quent thereupon, the clergy had a double burden to bear.* wMtTiT
They were required to tax themselves to meet the require- 13gg^'74
ments of the pope as well as the demands of the king.
Eemove from our necks, it was said, the papal burden, and
we shall not only be able to give more to the king, but
we shall give it with hearty goodwill. When the discus
sion had assumed this shape, and the members of the con
vocation were sufficiently prepared, the Bishop of Hereford
rose under considerable excitement from his seat, and so
lemnly declared, that neither he nor the clergy of his diocese
would contribute a fraction of their property to the king,
until the king applied a remedy to the calamities which,
through the exactions of the pope, the Church of England
had so long endured. This was an indirect attack upon
the Duke of Lancaster, who, in his opposition to the clergy
of the Church of England, was prepared to encourage the
pope in his exactions ; permitting him, in the treaty of
Bruges, to demand of them a contribution of 100,000
florins.

In this spirit negotiations were entered into with the
government, still in the hands of the Duke and of Alice
Ferrers.

To the Duke's party Sudbury, the Bishop of London
now president of the convocation, belonged ; and between
him and Courtenay it was at length arranged that the
convocation should grant a tenth, on condition that the
government would unite with the clergy in laying a
statement of their grievances before the pope, and in
demanding immediate redress.

* Parker, 380. " Clerus se jam paucis annis regiis sumptibus
exhaustum penitus et enervatum conqueritur, eoque magis, quod non
minus a rege, quam a papa, singulis pa?ne annis interpellarentur, cujus
intolerabile jugum si a suis cervicibus depelli possit, sub venire se posse
commodius regiis necessitatibus."

240 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. An embassy was sent, but, as might be anticipated, with
^J^Il^ little result. The Bishop of Bangor, John Gilbert, to repre-
wiiittie- sent the secular clergy ; Ughtred Bolton, a monk of Dun-
1368^74. holm, to represent the religious orders ; William of Benton
and John of Shepeye, to represent the laity, were appointed
commissioners to lay the grievances of the Church of
England before the pope at Avignon. The archbishop,
evidently distrusting them, gave a separate commission
to Hugh of Arbany, Eichard Brayton, and Eobert Brade-
gate, to act, conjointly or individually, as his proctors.*
These persons were commissioned, in the name of the king
and his lieges, to demand that the pope should pledge
himself no longer, contrary to law, to make reservations
or provisions of benefices ; that the cathedral and colle
giate churches should exercise their right of electing their
bishops with plenary authority ; and that the metropolitan
should, as was the ancient custom, possess the sole right of
confirmation. They were to warn the pope that he would
find himself disappointed if he expected to reduce the
patronage of the Church of England to a matter of mere
name and sufferance. They were willing to permit the
right of confirmation in the appointment of a, metropoli
tan to devolve upon the pope ; but in all that related to
suffragans and beneficiaries of inferior dignity, they were
to affirm that " the authorities of our nation must be
sufficient, and must not be disturbed by the coming in of
authority from the papal court, the same thing being
contrary to justice and ancient custom."

When the deputation waited upon the pope at

Avignon, Gregory XI. candidly admitted that the Church

of England and her king had some grounds of complaint.

He did not deny that the papal agents had been sonie-

* Wilkins, iii. 94. In this document there is allusion made to the
number of forged bulls which came to England.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 241

times injudicious, and that their conduct had been CHAP.
irregular.

The state of affairs in England was, however, no secret
in Avignon, where the terrors that were once attached
to the name of Edward and his heroic son had begun
to subside. The difficulties under which the English
clergy laboured were well known : the policy of humour
ing the Duke of Lancaster was perfectly understood. All,
therefore, that the ambassadors, not perhaps sincere when
executing their commission, could obtain was, the promise
of the pope to send representatives to a congress to be
held hereafter at some place to be named by the king.
Of this congress we shall have occasion to speak in the
life of Sudbury. We shall then refer also to the pro
ceedings of the Good Parliament in behalf of the clergy of
the Church of England and against the pope.

Although Whittlesey was unable to take an active part
in public affairs, he succeeded in effecting one important
object. We have had occasion to mention the controver
sies, which frequently arose between the University of
Oxford and the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese the
University of Oxford at that time was. To Whittlesey
belongs the merit of having put an end to these disputes
by obtaining a bull from Urban V., which conceded to
the university the right of electing its chancellor, without
any reference to the bishop. This either implied, or
led as a necessary consequence to, the privilege of self-
government.

Of the archiepiscopal residence at Otford, called by later
writers the palace,* a tower and the cloistered side of the
outer court are the only portions that now remain. These

* Strictly speaking, the Palace was the house which a bishop occu
pied in his cathedral town ; his other residences were styled manors.
The Archbishops of Canterbury, in the middle ages, had 1C manors,
most of them in Kent or Sussex.
VOL. IV. R

242 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, are of a date later than the time of Whittlesey. But
^_x^'_^ when the traveller wandering by the Darent looks up to
WhiS the cnalk hills at the foot of which the castle stood, with
1368-74 *ts Par^s an(^ wo°ds adjoining, he is able to understand
why so many of the primates chose this as their place;
of abode, when fatigue, disease, or old age induced them
to seek retirement. But Whittlesey had another reason
for fixing his abode here. The waters are pure as those
of Malvern, and were — indeed still are — regarded as medi
cinal. A peculiar efficacy attached to these in the opinion
of Archbishop Whittlesey and his contemporaries. The
bath which his attendants prepared for him was the bath
which was said to be used — (if after his consecration he
ever did use a bath) — by St. Thomas the Martyr ; it was
supplied by water from St. Thomas's well, and this
well was fed from a spring which owed its existence, as
well as its merits, to St. Thomas's staff. Thomas a Beckek
when he first determined to reside occasionally upon his
manor at Otford, was informed that, for want of water, it
would be useless to erect a mansion on the spot : upon
hearing this St. Thomas struck his staff into the ground,
and forthwith issued the stream at which, to the present
hour, the inhabitants of Otford imbibe refreshment and
health.

But the cold water was no cure for Archbishop Whittle
sey. We have seen how the spirit, more vigorous than
the flesh, impelled him to attend the convocation of 1373.
He was carried to his manorhouse at Lambeth. From
Lambeth he was never well enough to be removed ; but
to the last he retained his faculties. Feeling himself
growing weaker and weaker, he dictated his will, on the
5th of June, 1374. He appointed John of Woodhall,
Walter Dancy, and John of Susthorn his executors. He
directed them to expend such a sum of money as they
might think expedient for his soul's health. His library,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 243

including the books he inherited from a kinsman, William, CHAP.
he bequeathed to Peter House, Cambridge. His attach- .. XIV* _
ment to his family was, like that of his uncle Islip, one of ^^i
the amiable traits of his character. He desired, therefore, 13gey*
that the residue of his property should be divided among
his poor relations ; and bequeathed to his kinsman, Ealph,
whom he had appointed to be his chamberlain, one hun
dred marks. To his chapel at Whittlesea he bequeathed,
"vestimentum meum integrant de Scaloppis."*

He died the next day. He was buried at Canterbury
under a fair marble tomb inlaid with brass, over against
his uncle, Simon Islip, between two pillars on the south
side of the body of the church.f

* Ex Registro Ecclesiae Cant,
f Somner, pt. i. p. 134.

B 2

244 LIVES OF THE

CHAPTEE XV.

SIMOX SUDBURY.*

Family name Theobald, or Tybald. — Born at Sudbury. — Educated
abroad. — Graduated at Paris. — Patronised by Innocent VI. — Audi
tor of the Rota. — Chaplain to the pope. — Chancellor of Salisbury. —
Consecrated Bishop of London. — A benefactor of Sudbury. — Pur
chased the living. — His unpopularity. — Instance of his bad manners
— His condemnation of pilgrimages. — Acquainted with Wiclif. —
Goes on an embassy to Bruges. — Failure of the embassy. — Unpopu
larity of John of Gaunt's party. — Sudbury translated to Canterbury.
Overthrow of the Lancaster ministry. — Anti-papal proceedings
of the Good Parliament. — Splendid enthronization of Sudbury.
. — Sudbury's munificence to the cathedral. — Injunctions to the
convent. — Another change of ministry. — Party spirit displayed
by Sudbury. — Convocation compels him to summon the Bishop of
Winchester, William of Wykeham, to that synod. — Sudbury officiates
at the coronation of Richard II. — Opens parliament with a speech. —
Excluded from the Council of Regency. — State of parties. — Proceed
ings against Wiclif. — Unwillingness of the English prelates to prose
cute. — Papal bulls. — Proceedings at Lambeth. — Visitation. — Exempt
monasteries. — Controversy with St. Augustine's. — Parliament at
Gloucester. — Violation of sanctuary by the partisans of John of
Gaunt. — Rights of sanctuary. — A convocation. — Constitutions
enacted. — Laws concerning confession. — The archbishop settles a
dispute between the minor canons and chapter of St. Paul's. — Dress

* Authorities: — Walsingham ; Thorn; " Vita Simonis Sudbury ex
Speculo Parvulorum, v. 27 " ; Ang. Sac. i. 49 ; Political Songs ; Versus
de tempore Johannis Straw ; Knyghton, Lib. v. The Fifth Book of
Knyghton, which treats largely of the events of this period, is attributed
to another writer, evidently of the Duke of Lancaster's party. Fasciculi
Zizaniorum.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 245

and allowances of minor canons. — Urban VI. pope. — Dissenting
cardinals. — Urban acknowledged in England. — Change of ministry.
Causes of discontent — Villeinage. — Villeins in gross emancipated. —
Discontented clergy. — Duke of Lancaster again in the ascendant. —
His policy changed. — Sudbury chancellor. — Opens the parliament at
Northampton. — Capitation tax. — Popular excitement. — Insurrec
tionary movements. — Sudbury goes with the king to the Tower of
London. — Wat Tyler. — Rioters reach London. — Their excesses. —
Destruction of the Savoy Palace. — They attack the Tower. — Murder
of the archbishop.

SIMON, the son of Nigel and Sarah Theobald, or Tybald,* C|AP.
was born at Sudbury, in Suffolk, in the parish of St. v- * '—
Gregory. Although proper names had now become Sudbury.
common, it was still usual for a man of humble origin,
when he rose to a high position in society, to designate
himself by the name of the place in which he was born,
or to which he had been by circumstances attached.
It was an assumed title, which gradually became the
proper name of the family. It is still the custom with
plebeians when they are raised to the peerage, to adopt a
title from some favoured locality. What is now peculiar
to the upper classes of society, with the consent of the
sovereign, was, in the fourteenth century, without the lordly
prefix, a prevalent custom in a humble sphere of life.
The de or of was, after a time, omitted. Simon of
Langham, William of Whittlesey, Simon of Sudbury,
became Simon Langham, William Whittlesey, Simon Sud
bury ; and although the historical name of William of
Wykeham remains unaltered, it was only as Wykeham
or Wickham that the other descendants of John Longe,
his father, were known, when they exchanged their
patronymic for one the most illustrious of the names
whicli occur in English History.

* The name is written by Mr. Foss Thebaud or Tibbald. It is also
spelt Thepold : " Orate pro domino Simone Thepold." L/l Neve, 292.
We should now write it Theobald.

246 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The parents of the future archbishop, though belonging
_XV' - to the middle class of society, were in circumstances
Sudbury sufficiently opulent to enable them to become benefactors
1375-81. to their parish church, and to defray the expenses of
their son's education in foreign parts.*

Simon, though he studied in the English universities,
did not remain there long. His parents intended that
he should be a lawyer, and sent him to study canon
law in the French and Italian universities. For his
legal acquirements he was, through life, a distin
guished man. He took his degree as a Doctor of
Canon Law in the University of Paris. The papal
chair was occupied by Innocent VI., who, as Stephen
Aubert, had been himself eminent as a canon lawyer,
and was a patron of rising excellence wherever it was
found. If we can forgive the fearful perjury of which
he was guilty to secure his election to the papacy, we
may describe Innocent VI. as a man of unblemished
moral reputation, simple in manners, and so affectionate to
his family and friends that he was accused of the venial
offence of nepotism. To have obtained the notice of such
a discriminating patron reflects credit upon the early
career of Simon. He became an auditor of the Eota in
the papal court,f and after his ordination lie was made
chaplain to the pope himself. It is said that about this
time he visited Kome ; J if he did so, he must have
formed one of the suite of Cardinal Albornoz, and he

* Nigellus Thebaud et Sara, parentes ejus, atque benefactores
Ecclesice S. Gregorii in Sudbcry. Mon. Angl. vi. 1370.

f In a mandate of Edward III., Fcedera, iii. 482, he is designated
" Maistre Symonde Sudbury, auditeur de palays de pape, being a man
of great wisdom, learning, and eloquence." Walsingham speaks of
him as, " Vir eloquentissimus et incomparabiliter ultra omnes regni
sapientes, sapiens."

J Foss, iv. 97. He does not give his authority, and perhaps meant
Avignon when he wrote Kome.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 247

may have witnessed the death of the illustrious though CHAP.
infatuated Eienzi. He little thought that he should him- -_5J_ -
self be, like the Eoman senator, a victim of popular insur- gudbury.
rection ; but he may have determined, if such were to be 1375-si.
his fate, to meet that death with moral courage and with
greater magnanimity.

Sudbury was, at an early period of his life, connected
with the party of the Duke of Lancaster, and on his
occasional visits to England met, at that prince's court,
Chaucer and John Wiclif.

Although his education and early connexions were not
what, under the circumstances of the country, we should
have desired in an Englishman, yet lie sustained so high
a character, that no one could object when the pope
proposed him for preferment in the English Church.
Edward III. having just erected the duchy of Guienne
into the principality of Aquitaine, with which he had
invested the Prince of Wales, the object of Innocent
would be, as indeed it always was, to conciliate the
English Government; and, though devoted to French
interests, to rely not merely upon the fortifications he had
erected at Avignon, but upon his moral influence, for
protection against a powerful, if not a dangerous, neigh
bour. We may feel certain, therefore, that it was with
the full consent of the English Government that Sudbury
was appointed, in 13GO, to the chancellorship of Salisbury ;
and, two years afterwards, to the see of London.

It will be recollected that, in 1351, the Statute of
Provisors enacted, that all persons receiving papal provi
sions should be liable to imprisonment, and that all
preferments to which the pope nominated should be
forfeited, for that turn, to the king. But we have often
had occasion to remark that, at this period, a law was
only put in force when it involved a present or urgent
inconvenience. If all parties were satisfied, no one cared

248 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, whether the law was transgressed or not. The order of

-_^J— proceeding in the appointment of Sudbury to the see

Sudbury. OI* London was as follows : The pope proposed him ; the

1375-si. kmg consented ; the chapter went through the form of

electing ; the pope issued a bull claiming the appointment

by provision. No inquiries were made. The papal

party said he was appointed by provision, the chapter

by election, the lawyers by the royal nomination. In

the absence of controversy, all parties were satisfied.

Innocent saw the advantage of having a man, who had
become almost naturalised in France, at the head of the
third see in England ; the king found the advantage of
having a counsellor, whose acquaintance with foreign
politics made him peculiarly useful in the arrange
ment of truces and treaties of peace. The diplomatic
talents and the legal acquirements of Sudbury were
called frequently into requisition throughout Edward's
reign.

Sudbury, aware that his long residence abroad was
calculated to raise a prejudice against him, came to England
for his consecration, which took place on the 20th of
March, 1 362, at St. Paul's Cathedral. William of Wykeham,
Bishop of Winchester, officiated on this occasion. Two
other bishops were consecrated at the same time : one of
them, Simon Langham, was destined, like Sudbury, to be
come Archbishop of Canterbury ; and hence, if we include
the consecration of William Whittlesey to the see ot
Eochester in the preceding month, three bishops were
consecrated in the year 1362, each of whom became
primates of All England — two of them with the Christian
name of Simon, which was also the name of the prelate
who at this time occupied the primatial see.

The Bishop of London evinced an amiable disposition,
by remembering the place of his nativity, and by becom
ing a benefactor to Sudbury as soon as he possessed the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 249

means. He rebuilt the west end of the Church of St. CHAP.
Gregory ; and he endowed a college of secular priests on > — -^-1—
the site of his father's house. The church was purchased su<u>ury.
by himself and his brother John.* He brought his legal 1375~81-
knowledge to bear upon the interests of his diocese, of
which we find an example in Newcourt's account of
St. Bartholomew's Hospital ; in a dispute between the
master and brethren of the house the bishop acted as
arbitrator, f

But, though nothing could be laid to his charge, Sud-
bury was always an unpopular man. We can account, in
some measure, for his not being popular as Bishop of
London, from his being frequently employed in foreign
embassies ; and a non-resident bishop was an insult and
an injury to which Londoners would not easily submit.
Then, again, although he was an Englishman, he had been
educated and chiefly resident abroad ; and it was not to
be expected that the nominee of an Avignonese pope
would be regarded with favour in a country where hatred
to the French had become a fanaticism. He was distin
guished as a lawyer ; and, among the middle and lower
classes, the dislike of lawyers was, at this time, only
surpassed by their dislike of a Frenchman. The Duke of
Lancaster's party was not, when Sudbury was first ap
pointed to the see of London, the unpopular party it soon
afterwards became ; yet, personally, John of Gaunt was
never liked, and to that prince Sudbury was devoted.
There was also a brusqueness and want of consideration
of others in Sudbury himself, which is always offensive
when exhibited by a superior to persons placed in an
inferior position of society.

Of Sudbury's manners we have an instance in a story
which was told of him in the year 1370. In that year not

* Tanner, Notitia, Suffolk.

f Newcourt, Ilepertorium, i. 32G.

250 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Kent alone but all England was in a state of excitement at

. ^J — - the recurrence of a jubilee (the fourth) of St. Thomas the

Sudbury. Martyr. The road to Canterbury was thronged by enthu-
1375-si. siastic pilgrims, prepared to offer their devotions at the,
shrine of England's illustrious saint ; by invalids, who ex
pected some miraculous benefit ; by semi-penitent sinners,
who desired to obtain the indulgences conceded to a
pilgrim, — to wipe off old scores, and, having done so, to
go and sin again ; by hundreds, who sought to combine
pleasure with some undefined feeling of religion, — the
class of people who now frequent an oratorio, with this
difference, that ceremonial had then the charm which is
now the effect of music.

On the vigil of the feast, the Bishop of London crossed
the path of a party of pilgrims. The procession stopped.
A message was sent to the bishop that the pilgrims were
awaiting his episcopal benediction, and that they were
willing to receive his fatherly instructions and advice.

The bishop looked on the miscellaneous assembly, and
told them that he knew their object in undertaking the
pilgrimage to be, that they might have their share in the
plenary indulgences which had been granted to ah1 who,
at this season, should visit the shrine of the martyr. He
warned them that these plenary indulgences, except on
repentance, were valueless ; that they were wasting their
time and their money in seeking to obtain what they
would find hereafter to be of no avail.

These words gave immense offence to all, but especially
to those who, in their alternations of repenting and
sinning, sinning and repenting, kept up, as it were, a
" debtor " and " creditor " account with the Almighty.
They were going into a kind of spiritual insolvent debtors'
court, and expected to come out whitewashed. Their
anger was the greater because their consciences con
vinced them, that there was more of truth in the assertions

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 251

of the bishop than they were willing to allow. Their CHAP.
anger soon found utterance. Vengeance was imprecated > — _r_
upon the head of him who dared to insult the memory of

the glorious martyr. One man, Thomas of Andover, a 1375~81-
soldier, bolder than the rest, went up to Sudbury and
addressed him : " Why, Lord Bishop, do you dare to
stir up the people against St. Thomas? At peril of
my life, I foretell that thou shalt end thy days by a
death of ignominy." And all the people shouted, " Amen,
amen ! "

To this prediction, recorded by one who, though he
outlived the bishop, may be regarded as his contem
porary, the reader is at liberty to assign the probable
date. The circumstance is here mentioned as an example
of want of judgment and tact on the part of Sudbury.
What he said was true, and to assert the truth was
right ; but a truth which runs counter to the preju
dices of the people should be introduced in the tone
of friendly admonition, and not in that of provocative
declamation.

The story is important in another point of view. The
sentiments of Sudbury on this point were in advance of
his age; and it is clear that he had profited by the
various conversations and discussions he must have fre
quently had, in the palace of the Duke of Lancaster, with
Dr. John Wiclif. Wiclif was, at this time, in high favour.
He was chaplain to the king ; he was a dignitary of the
Church ; he was a Doctor of Divinity. Among the school
men he ranked with the most erudite. Although some
of his opinions were treated as eccentric, yet so far was he
from being regarded with suspicion, that Gregory XL,
in confirming the appointments of Wiclif, commended his
great learning and his spotless life. Sudbury and he were
united by party ties to the Duke of Lancaster, or, as lie
was at this time styled in public documents, the King of

252 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Castile.* They were both of them determined to exert

xv
— ^-- themselves with a view to correct what was amiss in the

Sudbury. Church, though neither of them had, as yet, decided
1375-81. UpO11 £}ie extent of the evil or the nature of the remedy.
Both of them were lawyers ; both of them were skilled
in the arts of diplomacy. In the character of lawyers,
diplomatists, and divines they were associated in the
embassy which accompanied John of Gaunt to Bruges,
in the year 1374.

In the life of Whittlesey mention has been made of a
remonstrance addressed to the pope, by the civil and
ecclesiastical authorities in England, on the subject of the
wrongs done to their Church, through papal reservations
and provisions. The result of this was an offer on the
part of the pope, to hold a congress on the subject, in
any place that the King of England might appoint.

The answer of the pope having been regarded as unsatis
factory and evasive, the king had caused an exact estimate
to be made of the number and value of English benefices
held by foreigners ; and negotiations having been opened
through the mediation of the pope, for an armistice
between England and France, it was thought expedient,
with these authenticated facts in the possession of the
ambassadors, to come, if possible, to a definite under
standing with the papal government.

The embassy was conducted on a scale of great mag
nificence. At the head of it was John of Gaunt, styling
himself King of Castile, called by the people " My Lord
of Spain," but acting now as Duke of Lancaster. With
him were associated, among others, the Earl of Salisbury,
Simon Lord Bishop of London, and the king's chaplain,
Dr. John Wiclif. The Dukes of Anjou and Burgundy

* Although his title in public documents at this time was King of
Castile, I shall generally speak of him as Duke of Lancaster, or John of
Gaunt, the titles by which he is best known in English History.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 253

represented the French interest. The Archbishop of CHAP.
Eavenna and the Bishop of Carpentras represented the *
pope, who was sincere in his desire to effect a good un- sudbury.
derstanding between England and France. The congress 13?5-81-
was to be held at Bruges, an emporium connected by its
woollen manufactures with the commerce of England.

The congress opened its proceedings in the August of
1374, and they were protracted over the space of two
years. There was no exception to the fatality which has
almost invariably attended English diplomacy. What
wisdom and valour have won, faction has too often con
ceded to the enemy. The nation has had to suffer that,
in the domestic warfare, a party might triumph. The
result of the negotiations was so unfavourable to England,
however, as to defeat the object of the Duke of Lancas
ter's party, which was overwhelmed by popular indigna
tion. The nation may be said to have risen against that
party en masse, and it was dismissed from office. In
church affairs the pope triumphed over the king. The
pope's object was to nullify, if possible, the Statute of
Provisors, so directly opposed to the papal interests and
the policy of the Court of Avignon. The pope undertook
to refrain from reservations, but the king, on his part,
entered into an engagement not to make any more ap
pointments by writ of Quare Impedit.* Gregory XI.
revoked the reservations of Urban, the king stipulating
to remit the penalties contracted under the Statute of
Provisors, so far as to permit the aliens at that time in
possession of English benefices, to retain them.

That in these disgraceful proceedings Sudbury took,
though not an ostensible, yet an active part we may at
once infer from his reward. On the death of Archbishop
Whittlesey, the chapter of Canterbury elected and pos-

* The six bulls published on this occasion may be seen in the
Food era ad. an. 1375.

254 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, tulated Cardinal Langham. The king, under the Duke
of Lancaster's influence, determined to appoint Sudbury ;

anc^ at ^ie same determination the pope had himself
1375-81. arrived. The power of translation still remained with him,
and he signified his readiness to translate the Bishop of
London to the primatial see. The chapter, unsupported by
the government, could not resist.* But Sudbury was to pay
for the honours he obtained, and lie was himself to ob
tain that payment from other purses than his own. The
pope, under various pretences, had demanded a subsidy
of 100,000 florins of the English clergy, and the pay
ment of this subsidy Sudbury was pledged to enforce.
The English clergy resisted the payment, and though tho
archbishop threatened the recusants with excommunica
tion, the parliament came to their rescue.f It was, indeed,
this demand that caused the final overthrow of Lancas
ter's ministry. Simon, to his astonishment, received a
royal brief commanding him, " if any letters, bulls, 01
other writings whatsoever, prejudicial to the king or his
subjects, should be brought to him, immediately on the
receipt thereof to send them safely and securely to the
Privy Council. "J Another brief to the same effect, written
in Norman-French, we still possess. We have also the
archbishop's answer to them, promising compliance. §
A change of ministry had, in fact, taken place. To

* A title of the primate at this time may be observed in a subsidy
roll given in Wilkins, iii. 141, where he is described as " Monseigneur
Lercevesqtie de Canterbirs."

f In March 1373 the pope wrote from Avignon to Wykeham, im
portuning him to use his good offices in this matter. He offers to accept
G0,000 florins, on the proviso that, if peace were established, the re
maining 40,000 should be paid. Walcot, "William of Wykeham and
his Colleagues," 46. The importunity shows how much the papal court
stood in need of money, and how difficult it was to obtain it.

J Wilkins, iii. 107.

§ Ibid. iii. 108.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 255

please the royal mistress, Alice Ferrers, the Duke of CHAP.
Lancaster had gone too far. The affairs of the country
could not be carried on if the aged and experienced
counsellors of the king were to be excluded from office, 1375~81-
merely because they held ecclesiastical benefices ; and all
this to please the royal mistress, who, though a lady of great
talent as well as of surpassing beauty, had not comported
herself, even in political affairs, with sufficient discretion.
She gave offence by assuming the airs and authority of a
queen-consort, and by adding to the expenses of a court
always reckless on the score of expenditure. The Prince
of Wales had returned to England, and suspecting, was
naturally alarmed at, his brother's ambition. He deter
mined, therefore, to employ his influence (which was still
great) with the king to break up the party of the Duke
of Lancaster. He called to his councils his father's wise
old friend, William of Wykeham. The course on which
he determined was to secure a parliament subservient to
his views, and to obtain the dismissal of Alice Ferrers.
The Bishop of St. David's was appointed Lord High
Chancellor, the Bishop of Worcester Lord High Trea
surer ; and at the latter end of April, 1376, the "Good
Parliament " sat at Westminster. That this parliament
deserved the title of " good," which was given to it by
the people, any one may be convinced who will take the
trouble to consult the Eolls of Parliament.* To guard
against the undue influence of the king's mistress, the
parliament, under the advice of the heir-apparent, peti
tioned the king to augment his council to the number of
ten or twelve. It was to consist of certain great lords
and prelates, who were to be continually near the royal
person : six were to form the quorum, without whose
advice and consent no business was to be transacted.

* Rot. Parl. 50, Edw. III.

256 LIVES OF THE

Lord Latimcr, the Duke of Lancaster's chief adviser and
agent, was imprisoned, and Alice Ferrers was banished
Sudbury. the court. An ordinance was made which implies the great
1375-81. offence by which she gave umbrage to the nation. It
enacted that no woman, especially Alice Ferrers, should
solicit or prosecute business in the king's courts, by way
of maintenance, on pain of forfeiture and exile.

The party of the Duke of Lancaster, which had ex
cluded the clergy from the government, had succumbed
to the pope, and, to win his support, had advised a virtual
repeal of the Statute of Fro visors by an exercise of the
royal prerogative ; while the parliament convened by the
influence of the clergy, with the Bishop of St. David's it
its head, in its petition for redress of grievances to the
crown, used stronger language and proposed stronger
measures against the pope, than had been employed or
suggested by any preceding parliament, or by any govern
ment, however hostile to foreign interference. Allowing
for the exaggerations incident to a party statement, anc
remembering that the object of the clergy was to prevail
on the civil government to defend them from the aggres
sions upon their property by the pope, the document is
valuable, as showing the sad condition of the Church at
this period. The remonstrance affirms —

That the tax paid to the Pope of Kome for ecclesiastical dignities
doth amount to fivefold as much as the tax of all the profits as
appertain to the king, by the year, of this whole realm ; and for
some one bishopric, or other dignity, the pope, by way of trans
lation and death, hath three, four, or five several taxes : that
the brokers of that sinful city, for money, promote many caitiffs,
being altogether unlearned and unworthy, to a thousand marcs
living yearly, whereas the learned and worthy can hardly obtain
twenty marcs ; whereby learning decayeth. That aliens, ene
mies to this land, who never saw nor care to see their parish
ioners, have those livings ; whereby they despise (rod's service,
and convey away the treasure of the realm, and are worse than

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 257

Jews or Saracens. It is therefore, say they, to be considered CHAP,
that the law of the Church would have such livings bestowed for , XV'
charity only, without praying or paying : that reason would that Simon
livings given of devotion should be bestowed in hospitality ; 1375-81.
that Grod hath given His sheep to the pope to be pastured, and
not shorn or shaven : that lay-patrons, perceiving this simony
and covetousness of the pope, do thereby learn to sell their
benefices to beasts, no otherwise than Christ was sold to the
Jews : that there is none so rich a prince in Christendom, who
hath the fourth part of so much treasure as the pope hath out
of this realm, for churches, most sinfully. They further re
monstrated that the pope's collector, and other strangers, the
king's enemies, and only leiger spies for English dignities, and
disclosing the secrets of the realm, ought to be discharged : that
the same collector, being also receiver of the pope's pence,
keepeth an house in London, with clerks and officers thereunto
belonging, as if it were one of the king's solemn courts, trans
porting yearly to the pope twenty thousand marcs, and most
commonly more : that cardinals and other aliens remaining at
the Court of Rome, whereof one cardinal is a Dean of York,
another of Salisbury, another of Lincoln, another Archdeacon of
Canterbury, another Archdeacon of Durham, another Archdea
con of Suffolk, and another Archdeacon of York ; another Pre
bendary of Thame and Nassington, another Prebendary of York,
in the diocese of York, have divers other the best dignities in
England, and have sent over yearly unto them twenty thousand
marcs, over and above that which English brokers lying here
have: that the pope, to ransom Frenchmen, the king's enemies,
who defend Lombardy for him, doth always, at his pleasure,
levy a subsidy of the whole clergy of England : that the pope,
for more gain, maketh sundry translations of all the bishoprics
and other dignities within the realm : that the pope's collector
hath this year taken to his use the firstfruits of all benefices :
that therefore it would be good to renew all the statutes against
provisions from Rome, since the pope reserveth all the benefices
of the world for his own proper gift, and hath within this year
created twelve new cardinals ; so that now there are thirty,
whereas there were wont to be but twelve in all, and all the
said thirty cardinals, except two or three, are the king's enemies.
VOL. TV. S

258 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. It inferred that the pontiffs, unless a timely check were
_xv- , provided, would soon assume a right to confer upon their
Sudbur creatures not ecclesiastical preferments only, but the
1375-81. estates of the landed gentry. This insinuation or attempt
to alarm the gentry is sufficient to show the clerical origin
of the petition. It went on to aver that, for the protec
tion of the realm against these practices which threatened
to render its present embarrassments perpetual, the pro
visions of the pope should be strenuously resisted ; that no
papal collector or proctor should be permitted to remain
in England, upon pain of life and limb ; and that no
Englishman, under like penalty, should become such col
lector, or remain at the Court of Borne.*

Such was the state of affairs when Sudbury arrived in
England. He had remained in Flanders until the am
bassadors were recalled ; but he had ordered extensive
preparations to be made for his enthronization. Under
the wise economy of Archbishop Islip, and the long
illness and, in consequence, the retired life of Archbishop
Whittlesey, the estates of the archbishopric had been
nursed, and they were now in a flourishing conditioi .
Archbishop Sudbury, knowing his unpopularity as a mini' -
ter of state, determined, by a generous expenditure of his
money, to purchase, if possible, the goodwill of tha
people : he spared no expense. When all things wera
ready for his reception he set sail, and landed at Sand
wich on the 1st of March, 1376. On the following
Sunday, being Palm Sunday, the 6th of April, he was
enthroned at Canterbury. It sounds strange to modern
ears to hear that, at such a season, the enthronization wa:*
conducted with a splendour and magnificence which
reminded the older inhabitants of Canterbury of former
times, and which made up for the curtailments to whicl

* Cotton's Abridgment.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 259

the enthronization of his immediate predecessors had been CHAP.
subjected* The sacredness of the season did not interfere
with the hilarity of the guests ; it only called into play
the artistic skill of cooks and confectioners. Fish only 1375-8i.
was to be eaten : but the variety of dishes in which the
various kinds of fish were concocted, and the gratification
afforded to that class of gourmands who in modern
advertisements are described as " the curious in fish
sauce," left the guests, unstinted as they were in their con
sumption of wine, no cause of complaint. The Earl of
Stafford was the archbishop's high-steward. The great
earl scorned not, as modern sizars or servitors, to place
the first dish upon the high table ; and his retainers, riding
round the hall, by their skilful horsemanship, jokes, and
repartees, increased the merriment while they preserved
the order of the feast, and acted as a police.

The age was one in which Gothic architecture was
brought to its perfection, and everyone was interested in
the erection of public works. Of the munificence of a
predecessor of Sudbury, Archbishop Langham, the monks
of Westminster were still speaking with admiration and
gratitude. William of Wykeham was almost rebuilding
Winchester ; and Simon of Sudbury determined that lie
would make Canterbury Cathedral his monument cere
perennius. He consulted the monks ; he had plans drawn
up ; he offered a large contribution from his own re
sources ; and in 1378, he issued a mandate to all eccle
siastical persons in his diocese to obtain subscriptions
towards the rebuilding of the nave.f According to
Battely and other Canterbury archaeologists, he built the
transepts, but this is probably a mistake. He erected the
west gate of the city, together with the greatest part of

* Palm Sunday was, of course, a festival, but the festivities were
prolonged into the week.

t Ex. Reg. Sudbury, fol. 52.

s 2

260 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the wall between it and Northgate, commonly called Long

._ xv' _.- Wall. It was a costly work, in remembrance ^f which

Sudbury. tne maj°r and aldermen, down to the time of the Be-

1375-81. formation, were accustomed annually to visit his tomb,

there to pray for the repose of his soul.*

He not only attended to the external works of the
cathedral ; he commenced his visitation, on the 2nd of
January 1376, by visiting the prior and convent. Some
of the orders which he gave throw light upon conventual
life ; and I present the reader with an abstract. " He
decreed and ordained that the Feast of the Epiphany
should be a principal feast in the Church. To this the
prior and chapter consented. Also that officials should
come to matins, and that the lessons should be studied
beforehand. Also he decreed and ordained, that the
infirmary be repaired ; and that each sick person should
have daily, in addition to the common necessaries of life,
one large allowance ; and that the sick should have a
warden and be provided with medicines and remedies.
He charged the prior that the convent be better
provided in the office of chamberlain ;f that it be pro-

* See Battely and Hasted; Professor "Willis has the following
remarks : — " In the life of Simon Sudbury, which Wharton has ex
tracted from the ' Speculum Parvulorum,' and which he tells us is the
work of William Chartham, a monk of Canterbury in 1448 (Ang. Sac.
i. pp. xx. and 49), it is related that Sudbury built ' two aisles in the
posterior ' (i.e. western) * part of the church,' duas alas enim in parte
posteriori ejusdem Ecclesia3. Necnon Portam Occidentalem Civitatis a
fundament's et muros ejusdem tune quasi prsecipites erexit, et fieri fecit
surnptibus propriis et expensis.' These must be the aisles of the nave,
which were probably begun before the death of Sudbury, and perhaps
carried on afterwards from his funds. However the Obituary, which
minutely records the works of other archbishops, is silent with respect
to Sudbury's."— Willis, Architectural Hist, of Cant. Cath. 121.

•f The duties of the camerarius were very extensive. Vide Ducange,
Gloss, sub voce. Lanfranc, in the Rules for the Order of St. Benedict,
thus defines them :— " Camerarii est procurare omnia vestimenta et cal-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY, 261

vided in the offices of " bercenarius " and "garwent- CHAP.
arius ;" that the former fraud with respect to measures — ^
be abolished in them. He charged the prior that the Sudbury.
chambers newly discovered be removed ; that the cellarer 1375-81.
should more diligently provide, by himself and his servitors,
for the victuals of the convent. He charged him to
whom it pertains, that women should not come into the-
kitchen, or other offices, seeking alms ; that it should be
provided that the due allowances of a dead monk be not
withdrawn during the year after his decease ; that the
monks should not have horses of their own ; that measures
should be taken for better restoring the manorhouses.
He ordered that the common seal should be better kept,
and that all important muniments passing under the seal
should be registered. He directed that the keepers of
the shrine of St. Thomas should not be too frequently
changed, that the offerings due to the monks by the
doorkeepers be not withdrawn, and that better custody
be provided for the image of the Blessed Mary, under le
croft. He commanded that no monk should cause his
vestments to be made in a country house, or take his
meals there, but when the parents of monks visited them
they should be suitably received in the monastery. He
gave directions that the precentor shall cause the books
pertaining to his office to be repaired. He charged the
prior that he should cause the kitchen and the dormitory
to be repaired. He advised that the prior and convent
should consult among themselves how they might be able
to live within their income, so that the offerings made in
the church might be divided for the liquidation of their

ceamenta, et lectos, et stramenta lectorum . . . rasoria et forfices, ter-
soria ad radendum . . . dat ferra, quibus ferrantur equi Abbatis et
Prioris, omnium hospitium, &c." But in the Book of the Order of St.
Victor this officer is described as having also the care of the monastic
revenues, lands, and cattle.

262 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, debts, amounting to £1500, and for the formation of a
- — r-l— * fabric fund. He enjoined them- that they should abstain
Sudbury. from quarrels and detractations, and that they should
1370-81. rather affect the common than individual good ; that they
should aim not at increase of power, but to become useful.
These articles being thus made, recited, agreed on, and
enjoined by our lord, he reserved what was not com
pleted by his said visitation until his next return to
Canterbury. And so he blessed the monks, and departed
from the chapter-house aforesaid." *

On the death of the Prince of Wales, on the 8th of
June 1376, another change of ministry took place. Alice
Ferrers having regained her ascendency at court, the
Duke of Lancaster was restored to power. Immediately,
the persons who had been prominent in the " Good
Parliament" were attacked and impeached ; and foremost
among them was William of Wykeham, to whose advice
the imbecile king, through habit, deferred if Alice Perrers
was not present to counteract his influence, f The con
duct of Sudbury at this trying crisis was firm and
judicious. He did not take an active part in public
affairs, and he wished to confine himself to his spiritual
duties. Nevertheless, when he summoned a convocation,
to meet in February 1377, he betrayed his party bias
and injustice by not issuing a summons to the Bishop of
Winchester. The convocation therefore met under feel
ings of indignation and excitement against the primate
and the government. Headed by Courtenay, Bishop of

* Ex. Reg. Sudbury, fol. 32 a. Wilkins, iii. 111.

f The imbecility of Edward III. towards the close of his reign must
have been greater than is generally supposed. He seems to have been
a mere puppet, moved as they chose by those who were in attendance
upon him. William of Wykeham's personal influence with his royal
master was great : hence the direct object with either party was, on the
one side to remove the Bishop of Winchester, and on the other Alice
Ferrers, from the court.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 263

London, they refused to vote a subsidy until the Bishop CHAP,
of Winchester was among them. How could they deal < — 1^-1—
with the property of the Church when so large a sudbury.
proprietor was absent ? In a pointed manner they 13?5-8L
informed the archbishop that they regarded the treat
ment of the Bishop of Winchester as an insult to the
clergy, and an attack upon the liberties of the Church.
This they required their president to state to the king,
and to represent the grievances to which the illustrious
prelate was subjected. Amidst the manors attached
to his church he had not, it was said, where to lay his
head ; and he was forbidden, as by the command of our
lord the king, to make his abode in any of the monasteries,
priories, or other places of his diocese, foundation, and
patronage. The jurisdiction of the Church was thus
infringed, and the execution of the pastoral office of the
bishop interrupted.

This was so direct an attack upon the government that
the primate hesitated to act. But the convocation was
unanimous and urgent ; and Sudbury at last managed
things so skilfully, that, having encouraged the state
ment of other grievances, he yielded at length to lay
them all before the king, the case of the Bishop "of
Winchester being only one of the many things complained
of. Every other petition was granted, and to that alone
which related to the Bishop of Winchester no answer
was returned.

The archbishop, however, had time to consult his
friends ; and, finding that no subsidy would be obtained,
unless the Bishop of Winchester were present, it was at
length agreed that he should receive a summons.
William of Wykeham had been accustomed to attend
parliament and convocation with the splendid retinue,
which became his high rank ; but, with the good taste and
tact which he always displayed, he arrived at South wark on

264 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, this occasion with but few followers. He needed not, in-

._X7'_. deed, a large attendance, since the enthusiasm of the

Sudbury. clergy and laity, when he first made his appearance,

1375-81. attested the respect in which he was universally held,* and

was in itself sufficient to account for the desire of his

opponents to keep him in the background.

The archbishop was present at another convocation,
when the Bishop of London, for party purposes, and
not on religious grounds, accused Dr. Wiclif of heresy.
The extreme violence of the Duke of Lancaster when
his partisan was assailed, the rising of the Londoners tc
defend their bishop, and the dangers to which all were
exposed who ventured to side with the unpopular " Prince
of Spain," — these things will be more fully narrated in
the life of Courtenay. We have only here to remark
that Archbishop Sudbury looked on in silence, and
learned wisdom from experience.

Evil reports and surmises of the designs of the Duke of
Lancaster upon the crown, rendered his party yet more
unpopular ; and if he ever entertained the design of setting
aside the son of the Black Prince, he was certainly not
strong enough, on the death of Edward III., to attempt
it.f It was felt, under these circumstances, to be politic

* Rot. Parl. 51. Edw. III. ii. 373. Wilkins, iii. 104. Regist. Wyke-
ham, pt. 3, fol. 6. " He came to London with a small number of ser-
vaunts, who beforetyme was thought to excell all others in the multitude
of ser vaunts. He was joyfully receaved by hys fellow bishops, and, as
became such a person, greatly honoured." MS. Harleian,No. 6,217, c.21.

f Of these reports the duke complained in the first parliament of
Richard IT. Rot, Parl. i. Ric. 2, tit. 14. But the report circulated
not only, as he said, among the commons of England, but in France.
Mon. Evesham, in Vit. Ric. II. Hearn. In MS. Harleian, No. 6,217,
it is said that the Duke of Lancaster proposed to the parliament of the
fifty-first of Edward III. to deliberate as to the succession to the crown
after the late Prince of Wales' s son, and as to the propriety of excluding
women. See also Parker. There may have been no truth in the report ;
or the report may have been raised to see how it would be taken.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 265

to conduct the coronation of the young king on a scale CHAP.
of more than usual magnificence ; the duke hoped, by > — -^-l
the zeal he then displayed in doing honour to his nephew, gudbur
to dissipate all suspicion. The description of the cere- 1375-8i
monial in Walsingham, and in the " Liber Custumaruni," is
so minute, that the coronation ceremonies of Richard IE.
have formed a precedent which is still observed.* No
time was lost. King Edward III. died on the 21st of
June 1377, and the coronation of Richard II., then in
the twelfth year of his age, took place on the 16th of
the following July.

The archbishop went to the palace at Westminster to
be prepared to receive him. The procession from the
Tower had taken place on the day preceding. After
having fortified themselves with a public breakfast, or
dinner, — post prandium, — the mayor and the civic au
thorities, attended by a splendid cavalcade, appeared be
fore the gates of the Tower. The gates were thrown open,
and surrounded by the magnates of the realm, escorted
by a large bodyguard of armed men and servants in
livery, preceded by heralds-at-arms in their embroidered
coats, the royal youth came forth, arrayed in a robe of
white satin, and seated on a magnificent charger, the
bridle of which was held by Sir Nicolas Bond.*j* The

* In the custody of the Dean of Westminster there is a valuable
volume, called the "Liber Regalis," with illuminations. It contains the
offices (i.) of a king crowned ; (ii.) of a king and queen crowned
together ; (iii.) of a queen crowned alone ; (iv.) of a king lying in state.
A facsimile with a description of the book is given by Mr. Westwood
in his " Palaeographia Sacra ; " and, according to Mr. Maskell, the date
of the manuscript cannot be later than the reign of Richard II., for
whose coronation it is supposed to have been written.

j" In the Issue Rolls, 206, we find the following entry, under the first
year of Richard II. :— " 5th April.— To Sir Alured de Veer, Knight, by
two tallies raised this day, containing £100, paid to the said Alured in
discharge of £200 which the Lord the King commanded to be paid him

266 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, trumpets sounded, and the bands played — cum tubis et

>~ r '-^ universis aliis modis rnodulationum — he passed through

Sudbury. Cheapside and Fleet Street — " per publicos vicos Lon-

8L doniarum usque stratum nobile vocatum, ' le Chepe ' cle

Londoniis et abinde usque Flete Strete ;" and when

he arrived at the palace of Westminster, he entered the

hah1, and, going up to the marble table, he called for wine?.

He drank merrily and freely with his thirsty nobles, and

retired, fatigued, to his private apartments.

Early in the morning the archbishop's procession was
formed. His cross was borne before him, and he was
attended by his suffragans and other prelates, mitred and
carrying their pastoral staves. An immense concourse of
people were gathered round Westminster Hall ; and, as
the prelates approached, they bent the knee, and the
primate, making the sign of the cross, waved his bene
diction upon the kneeling throng. The king had already
left the Whitehall, and having entered Westminster Hall,
preceded by the great officers of state and the peers, had
taken his seat upon the marble chair or king's bench, at

of his gift for a charger which the same Lord King had of the gift of
the said Alured, and upon which charger the same Lord the King rode
from the City of London to Westminster at his coronation. By writ of
Privy Seal, among the mandates of this time — £100." Thus early did
Richard display his taste for costly and high-bred horses, of which, with
reference to his celebrated horse Barbary, Shakspeare makes such
affecting use when Richard became the prisoner of Bolingbroke : —

King Rich. — Rode he on Barbary ? Tell me, gentle friend,
How went he with him ?

Groom. — So proudly as if he disdained the ground.

King Rich. — So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back !
The jade hath eat bread of my royal hand ;
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.
Would he not stumble ? Would he not fall down,
Since Pride must have a fall, and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back ?

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 267

that time covered with cloth of gold.* When the prelates CHAP.

and clergy appeared, his attendants rose, and formed a > — -^-L—
procession, in which the king walked last, in his royal

robes. The causeway was covered with scarlet cloth, 13?o-8i.
and over the king, by the barons of the Cinque Ports,'}*
was held a canopy of blue silk, tinkling with silver bells,
and glittering with burnished spearheads of the same
precious metal. The antiphonal chant was resumed.
The reader who has the curosity to compare the account
given of this coronation in the two works just mentioned
with " The Office for the Coronation," as it was used for
George IV., William IV., and Queen Victoria, will be inte
rested to observe that the same solemn form of accepting,
anointing, and crowning the Sovereigns of England has
at all times prevailed, those changes only taking place
which an alteration of circumstances, in every reign, may
have rendered necessary. J

Of the feast which succeeded the coronation the de
scription is also given ; and of a medieval festivity those
who were present at Westminster Hall when George IV.
feasted his nobles may be able to form some idea, even to

* " At the upper end of this hall," says Stow, " is a long marble
stone, of twelve feet in length and three feet in breadth. And there
also is a marble chair, where the kings of England formerly sate at their
coronation dinners ; and at other solemn times, 'the lord chancellor ;
but now not to be seen, being built over by the two courts of chancery
and king's bench." — STOW, " Survey of London."

f According to Knighton, col. 2424, the privileges of the Cinque
Ports were first granted to them by King John, on condition of their
being always ready to provide him with ships to pass over to the Con
tinent : " Causa cujus dotation!.* adhuc clamant liberiores esse prae
casteris portubus regni Anglias."

J The Order of the Coronation of King Ethelred, A.D. 978, is pre
served in the British Museum. Cotton MS. Claudius A. iii. In the same
volume is the Order of the Coronation of Henry I. In the Bodleian
MS. Rawl. c. 425, is the Order of the Coronation of Edward II. A
comparison of the various offices is to be found in Maskell.

268 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the scramble which took place, when all was over, for
-, '-^ every fragment of food or furniture which was left, in
Sudbury. which he who writes these lines took part.

1375-81. Qn ^e 13^ of October parliament met. It was
opened by the archbishop with a speech founded upon
the text, Matt. xxi. 5, " Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee ! " He divided his subject into three heads, even as
there are three reasons why a friend should come. He
may come to rejoice and make merry, and to receive the
congratulations of his host on the occurrence of some
unexpected blessing, as was the case with the Virgin
Mary when she visited Elizabeth, and exultavit infans
in uter o ejus : or else one friend may come to con
dole with another, in the season of affliction, as did the
friends of Job : or he may come to make proof of 01 r
friendship, as saitli the Scripture, " in necessitate probe -
bitur amicus" So now, for all of these reasons, the kin^,
our undoubted liege lord, has come to meet his parlia
ment. He comes, first, to rejoice with you for that, bv
the grace of God, he ascends the throne as its direct heir,
and to thank you for the goodwill towards him which
you have expressed. Secondly, he comes to condole with
you, not only on the death of the noble king his grand
father, but also on account of the depredations committee
by the enemy upon the English coasts, and of the losses
sustained elsewhere. He comes to proffer his assistance.
and, at the same time, to confirm all the liberties of his
people, to maintain the laws and peace of the kingdom,
and to redress any wrongs that may have been com
mitted. Thirdly, he comes to put your loyalty to the
proof : he requires your counsel and advice for the sup
pression of the enemy, and he asks your pecuniary aid
to enable him to accomplish what he designs against the
enemy.

By this parliament we may say that the party of the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 269

Duke of Lancaster was, for a season at least, annihilated. CHAP.
He himself had gone into retirement. A council of nine - — ~^-
persons was chosen to conduct the government, and these sudbiuy
were the Bishop of London (Courtenay), the Bishop 1375~8L
of Carlisle (Appleby), and the Bishop of Salisbury
(Erghum), the Earls of March and of Stafford, Sir John
Stafford, Sir Henry Scrope, Sir John Devereux, and Sir
Hugh Segrave. The exclusion of the Archbishop of Can
terbury was something very like an insult. The present
parliament consisted chiefly of the members of the Good
Parliament, who had been re-elected, and re-enacted many
of the laws which the Duke of Lancaster had caused to
be neglected or repealed. It is necessary to remind the
reader that the party now in power was that which sided
with the prelates and clergy of the Church of England,
but was opposed to the papacy ; by which it was con
tended that the bishops and clergy were robbed and
wronged, not only to the detriment of the clergy, but
to the damage also of the country at large. The Duke
of Lancaster's party was opposed to the clergy and the
prelates of England, and he himself, for the purpose of
obtaining a triumph over the English hierarchy, would
have yielded much to the pope. Sudbury's position was
a difficult one. He was prepared to support the pope,
but still he had a desire to conciliate his own suffragans
and clergy, by endeavouring to convince them that they
must make common cause against the new reformers, who
were assailing both.

When Sudbury and Wiclif parted at Bruges, they
parted never again to meet as friends. During the two
years of their residence in Elanders, Sudbury, whatever
may have been his opinions in former times, had ad
vanced in what we may call the conservative direction—
Wiclif in the direction of a reformer. Until he went to
Bruges, Wiclif had experienced the toleration extended

270 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, generally to schoolmen, who were permitted to indulge in
— <^—^ freedom of speech so long as they were supposed to be
Sudbury. loyal to the Church. He had been regarded as eccentric
1375-81. ratner than hereticail — as troublesome rather than dan
gerous ; but from this time, he was pursued with such
persevering malignity by the papal party, that we con
clude that, indignant at what he had witnessed in his
intercourse with the papal authorities, he had denounced
what he condemned, in his usual impetuous, honest,
outspoken style, and so had made himself especially
obnoxious. In England, however, he continued to be
popular, in spite of his connexion with the Duke of Lancas
ter, as persons opposed to constituted authorities, good or
bad, generally are. On the other hand, his connexion
with the Duke of Lancaster rendered the archbishop
unwilling to take any measures against him, although
repeatedly urged to do so. The cry raised against the
English bishops by the monks and the mendicants was, that
they were lukewarm and negligent of their duty. Tha
truth is, that they were, many of them, too much engaged
in politics to concern themselves much about religious
doctrine; and, being indifferent, they only desired peace
until, by opposition, their passions were excited.*

By the men of learning, especially in the University o:'
Oxford, Wiclif was, at this time, very generally supported ;
and although, on the one side, a religious party was
clamouring for episcopal interference, the archbishop was
well aware that if, in obedience to this demand, he were
to take any steps against his old acquaintance, he would
excite a painful opposition.

* The reader lias only to consult the pages of Walsingham to see how
indignantly a large class of thoughtful Christians accused the bishops of
lukewarmness for not proceeding against Wiclif. For this neglect
Walsingham considers, that Sudbury brought down upon his devoted
head the wrath of Heaven. See Walsingham, ii. 11, 12. Ed. Eiley.
He also brings the same charges against the universities. Ibid. i. 345.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 271

He determined to let things take their chance, until the
arrival, in the spring of 1377, of three bulls from the gimon
Pope of Avignon. They were dated the llth May, and Sudbury.
were addressed to Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, and
to William, Bishop of London. Complaint is made, in
these bulls, of the laxity of the English prelates, the
more to be noticed from the contrast they presented to
the conduct of their forefathers, when among the English
clergy were to be found men enriched with a pure
knowledge of the Bible, holy and devout men, champions
of orthodoxy ; — watchmen ever careful against any
approach of errors damaging to their flocks, — who
when tares were sown were the first to pluck them
out. But now — proh dolor — in this very kingdom, the
watchmen, negligent and slothful, instead of keeping
watch and ward in the city, have permitted the enemy to
enter, and to make devastation of the souls of men.
This was the more to be remarked, for that, while the
evil remained unopposed in England, the secret approaches
of the enemy and his open attacks were first perceived
at Borne, distant as that city is.* The pope, having thus
reproached the bishops of the Church of England for that
lukewarmness of which zealots were accusing them in
their own country, proceeds to say that information had
reached him, from several persons worthy of credit, that
John Wiclif, Eector of Lutterworth, in the diocese of Lin
coln, and professor of the sacred page — (it were well if he
were not master of errors),f — had been insane enough

* This reproach of the pope confirms the statements in Walsingham,
and the fact (to which the reader's attention has been called) that, at the
early period of Wiclif 's career, the bishops of the Church of England
had no intention whatever of persecuting him : pressure from without
was brought to bear upon them.

f " Johannes Wiclif, Rector ecclesia? de Lutterworth, Lincolniensis
dicec. sacrse paging professor — utinam non magister errorum." This
little joke seems out of place in so grave a document.

272 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to assert, to dogmatize upon, and publicly to preach cer-

1^— - tain propositions and conclusions adverse to the truth,

Sudbury. &nd utterly subversive of the Church. They savoured, lie

1375-si. gajj^ of tjie perversity -and ignorance of Marcellus of Padua
and John of Ganduno, of accursed memory, both of them
having been anathematized by John XXII. He again
adverted to the remissness of the English bishops in not
noticing these things. " So far as we know," he continues,
" not a single effort has been made for the extirpation of
these evils. They have been passed over, tolerated, winked
at: — yes, you and the other prelates of the Church of
England, you who ought to be pillars of the Church,
defenders of the faith, you have winked at them I You
ought to be covered with shame and blushing, you ouglt
to be conscience-stricken, for thus passing over these
iniquities /" * He enclosed a schedule, consisting of ;i
catena of the errors and heresies of Wiclif ; and as the
English bishops would not act for themselves, he com
missions the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop o '
London to act in his name, and as his delegates privatdj
to inform themselves as to the truth of the charges
brought against Wiclif. If they found the case to be as
was stated, they were, in the pope's name and by his
authority, to arrest John Wiclif. They were to receive

* Walsingham, i. 351. Edit. Riley. The passage is important as
confirming the statements made in the text. The biographers of
Wiclif omit it in the abstracts they give of the bulls, and are perplexed
to understand the conduct of the bishops. They are eloquent in their
vituperations against the bulls and the two prelates who were commis
sioned to act on their provisions. A writer is intelligible when he
contends that no one has a right to sit in judgment on the opinions of
another, even though he preach atheism. But admitting, as all did at
that time, that the pope was called upon to interpose, we do not see
how he could have done less than he did on this occasion. The bulls
do not deserve that eloquence of vituperation which we find in their

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 273

his confession, and to transmit both that and his explana- CHAP.

"VV

tions to the pope, sealed with their seals, and to be conveyed - — -^-l
through a trusty messenger. The said John himself they sudbury.
were to detain, until they had received further instruction. 1375-8i.

Although the pope was at Borne, 1376-1378, and the
bull was dated there, yet Gregory XI. was really an
Avignese pope, and he was aware that it was questionable
how a bull emanating from him would be received in Eng
land. He was desirous, therefore, of alarming the king's
government ; and the archbishop and the bishop were
directed to warn the king and nobles of England, that the
principles of Wiclif were subversive of all civil govern
ments, as well as ecclesiastical, — and would, if unchecked,
prove the utter destruction of polity or government. A
third bull, having the same date, directed the archbishop
and the bishop, if they could not apprehend John Wiclif,
to fix a citation in all public places, requiring him to
appear personally before the pope, within three months,
to be reckoned from the day of the date of the citation.

At the same time, the pope addressed a letter to the
king, Edward III., repeating, in part, what he had said
against Wiclif in the letter addressed to the archbishop ;
informing the king that the pope had issued a commission
to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London,
to act as his delegates, and to enter into a prosecution
of Wiclif in the pope's name, and strongly urging the
king to extend to his commissioners his royal grace and
protection.

The pope sent, at the same time, by the hands of a
special messenger, Edmund Stafford, a bull to the University
of Oxford. He expressed his astonishment and grief,
that, notwithstanding the privileges granted to them by
the apostolic see, they had, through sloth and negligence,
permitted tares to spring up among the pure wheat sown
in that glorious field, their University ; that they had

VOL. IV. T

274 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, even, without an attempt to eradicate them, suffered them
._ xrJ_ , to ripen ; that, to his yet deeper affliction, these tares had
Sudbury. been discovered at Borne, before they were even noticed
1375-si. jn England, where they ought, long since, to have been
extirpated. He then repeats what he had said to the
archbishop, that the doctrines of Wiclif tended to tie
subversion of both church and state ; and he threatened
to deprive the university of all graces, indulgences, and
privileges hitherto granted to them, if they continued to
permit the teaching of such doctrines. He required them
to cause the person of Wiclif to be committed to the
custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop
of London ; and should others, defiled by his errors,
attempt a resistance to this mandate, it was required that,
with respect to them, the same summary methods should
be adopted.

The enclosed schedule was a catena of Wiclif 's error;*,
drawn up by the mendicants :

1. The whole race of men concurring, without Christ, have
not the power of simply ordaining that Peter and all his follow
ers should rule over the world politically for ever.

2. God cannot give civil dominion to a man for himself and
his heirs in perpetuum.

3. Charters of human invention, concerning perpetual in
heritance in times past, are impossible.

4. Every one being in grace, justifying finally, not only hatl
a right unto, but in fact hath, all the things of Grod.

5. A man can only ministerially give to a natural son, or to
a son of imitation, in Christ's school, either temporal dominion
or eternal.

6. If Grod be, temporal lords can lawfully and meritoriously/
take away the goods of fortune from a delinquent church.

7. Whether the church be in such a state or not does not
pertain to me to discuss, but belongs to temporal lords to
examine; and if they find it in such condition, to act confidently,
and, on pain of eternal damnation, to take away its temporalities.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 275

8. We know that it is not possible that the vicar of Christ,
merely by his bulls, or by them together with his own will and
consent, and that of his college, can qualify or disqualify any Simon
man. 1375-81.

9. It is not possible that a man should be excommunicated,
unless first and principally he be excommunicated by himself.

10. Nobody is excommunicated to his damage, suspended, or
punished with other censures, unless in the cause of God.

11. Cursing or excommunication doth not bind simply,
unless in so far as it is used against an adversary of the law of
Christ.

12. There is no -power authorised by Christ, or his disciples,
of excommunicating subjects chiefly for refusing temporalities,
but the contrary.

13. The disciples of Christ have no power coactively to exact
temporalities by censures.

14. It is not possible, by the absolute power of (rod, that, if
the pope or any other pretend that he bind or loose in any way,
he doth therefore bind or loose.

15. We ought to believe that then only he doth bind or loose,
when he conformeth himself to the law of Christ.

16. This ought to be universally believed, that every priest
rightly ordained hath power sufficiently of administering any of
the sacraments, and, by consequence, of absolving any contrite
person from any sin.

17. It is lawful for kings to take away temporalities from
ecclesiastics who habitually misuse them.

18. If temporal lords, or holy popes, or holy persons, or Peter,
or the Head of the Church, who is Christ, shall have endowed the
Church with the goods of fortune or of grace, and shall have
excommunicated those who take away its temporalities, yet it is
lawful, through the condition implied, to deprive it of its tem
poralities for a proportionable offence.

19. An ecclesiastic, even the Roman pontiff himself, may
lawfully be rebuked by subjects and laics, and even impleaded.*

The arrival of these bulls was the cause of much ex-

* Ex. Reg. Sudbury, fol. 46. Wilkins, iii. 123. Walsingham, i. 353.

T 2

276 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, citement and difficulty. The king, Edward III., was on

. *-^—~> his death-bed ; but the parliament and the council of

Sudbury. regency appointed when his death had taken place,
1375-81. though opposed to the Duke of Lancaster, and supporting
the clergy of the Church of England, were more hostile
to papal interference than the duke himself had ever
been, and had even obtained the opinion of Dr. Wiclif
on certain ecclesiastical affairs. The Londoners, who had
sided with the opponents of Wiclif, when the Duke cf
Lancaster had insulted their bishop, had now been re
conciled to the duke, and were in a state of considerable
indignation when they heard of the arrival of a bull,
which, addressed to the king, raised the suspicion that the
pope was again interfering in political affairs. Tha:
the pope should dare to commission any one to apprehend
and imprison an Englishman on his own authority, was
an intolerable aggression upon the constitution. The
archbishop and the bishop were perplexed how to act.

In the University of Oxford the question was raised,
whether a bull from the pope, assuming powers so adverse
to the constitution, should be received. In the midst oi
the debates which arose on the subject, a letter arrived
from the primate announcing his intention to act himself
on the papal rescript, so far as an inquiry into the
teaching of Wiclif was concerned ; and requiring the
University to provide him with some doctors of divinity,
to act as his assessors. If they knew of any heresies pro
pounded by Wiclif they were required to make them
known. When it was understood that the archbishop
would not violate the law or lay violent hands on Wiclif,
but that only an inquiry was intended, the University
consented to co-operate with the primate.*

The archbishop and the Bishop of London were acting

* Reg. Sud. fol. 46.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 277

in this matter, not as English prelates, but simply as dele- CHAP.
gates or commissioners of inquiry appointed by the pope. -
The other bishops stood aloof. The papal delegates were Sudbuiy.
cautious in their mode of proceeding. They suffered a 1375~81-
year to elapse before they opened the commission. They
supplied Wiclif with a list of the erroneous doctrines, for
holding which he was accused of heresy. They wished
to conduct the affair as privately and as unostentatiously
as possible. They did not venture to convene Wiclif
before a synod at St. Paul's ; they sat in the archbishop's
chapel at Lambeth. They acted as men under constraint,
and quite aware that they would be held responsible for
the slightest infraction of the constitution. It had been
cunningly devised, that the delegates should represent the
two great parties in the state ; but the popularity of the
Bishop of London could not protect him when he was
acting unconstitutionally. The fact that the demand for
the payment of the tribute to Home had not long before
been made and indignantly rejected, rendered the govern
ment and the people the more suspicious and watchful of
the conduct of the delegates. They, on their part, acted
with fairness. Wiclif was summoned to attend at the
chapel, but he did not attend as a prisoner. There can
be no doubt that Wiclif, also alarmed, explained away
some of the most objectionable of his statements : he did
what has been done by certain persons, who, whether on
the Eucharist, or on the subject of eternal punishment, of
late years have been accused of heresy. He required
that the most favourable construction should be placed
upon his words, and that, where they were capable of
bearing two meanings, they should be understood in the
orthodox sense. The delegates, anxious to escape from
their difficulties, were prepared to dismiss him, with an
injunction, that he should never more advocate, from the
pulpit or from the professorial chair, the obnoxious

278 LIVES OF THE

doctrines, or the doctrines which, by being misunder
stood, had led him into his present difficulties.

Meantime, it was rumoured that the papal delegates,
contrary to law, were sitting in judgment upon Wiclif, in
the archi episcopal chapel at Lambeth. The Londoners
were roused to a fury of indignation, and attacked the
archiepiscopal residence. The council of regency were
equally indignant, and a message arrived from the prin
cess dowager, desiring a suspension of all further pro
ceedings in the case.*

As no further steps were taken in this affair by Sud-
bury, we may conclude that he was not unwilling to obey
orders.

Archbishop Sudbury renewed his visitation in the year
1378, and was involved in a controversy with the regulars.
He seems to have attempted to make a distinction be
tween his powers as archbishop, and his authority as
legatus natus. An exempt monastery was, as it were,
a dissenting establishment in a diocese. It set at nought
the jurisdiction as the bishop, and was placed under
authority of the pope, and of him only. Archbishop
Sudbury did not attempt to visit an exempt monastery as
primate, but he maintained his right to visit as legate.
Hence two questions arose : first, whether this power of
visitation in any way pertained to a legatus natus ; and
secondly, whether, if so, the visitor might enter the mo
nastery with his cross erect, and with the insignia of the
primacy. The first monastery Sudbury attacked was the
abbey of St. Augustine's, Canterbury ; and by that
wealthy convent an appeal was made to Eome.

The unsettled state of affairs at Eome, rendered a speedy
termination of the dispute, by a decision in that quarter,
uncertain ; and the archbishop well knew his own power

* Walsingham, i. 349-356. Wilkins, iii. 115-117. Reg. Sudbury,
45, 46.

. ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 279

with the home government. The archbishop one day in CHAP.
a jeering strain said, " My lord abbot, the time is coining, ._xv'
when, by the favour of God, thy house I shall enter ; in g^jjj^y.
thy church I shall worship ; and thy doors shall open at 1375-si.
my command." The abbot replied, " Eeverend father, I
put my trust in the Lord, and feel assured that, in this
matter, from Him assistance thou shalt not have, neither
will He aid thee to obtain entrance here. The more
vehemently thou dost stir up the mind of God to do this
injustice towards His servants, so much the more speedily
do I trust that assistance will come to us from on high."
Thorn thinks that the abbot spoke prophetically.*

The parliament assembled, this year, at Gloucester.
Again there arose disputes between the laity and the
clergy. The commons complained, that many of the
clergy, under the pretence of silva ccedua, took tithes of
timber. The commons petitioned, that the time for com
puting the growth of silva ccedua might be shortened
from twenty to ten years ; and that all underwood of
more than ten years' growth, might be discharged from
paying tithes. The king was advised to refuse his con
sent. It is true, that the Duke of Lancaster was regain
ing his influence in the royal councils ; and a few years
before he could have counselled the king to pursue a dif
ferent course : but, defeated in his schemes of ambition,
it was now his policy to conciliate the clergy. He had,
not long before this, shocked public opinion by his viola
tion of the established rights of the church. He had
offended the Londoners, with whom the influence of the
Bishop of London was great ; and the very fact of holding
this parliament at Gloucester, instead of Westminster, is
attributable to a fear that the presence of Lancaster in
London would cause a riot.

The Duke of Lancaster, for the furtherance of his
* X Script. 2155.

280 LIVES OF THE

claim to the crown of Castile, desired to obtain possession
of the person of the son of the Count de Denia, a relative
of the reigning family. The Count de Denia had been
taken prisoner by two esquires, Schakel and Haule. With
these esquires he left his son a hostage, until he should
be able to pay the ransom they demanded. A sum of
money, equivalent to the ransom, the duke offered himself
to pay, on condition that the young man should be made
over to his custody. The offer was, very properly, refused.
After several attempts to secure the young count's person,
the duke, by putting forward some supposititious claims
of the crown of Castile, obtained an act of parliament
in 1377, for the committal of Schakel and Haule to the
Tower, unless the prisoner was produced on a certain
day. From the Tower Schakel and Haule made their
escape, taking sanctuary at Westminster. They were pur
sued to the precincts of Westminster by soldiers of the
duke, who surprised Schakel and carried him back to his
prison. Haule had entered the abbey itself, and was
engaged in his devotions, w^hile high mass was celebrated.
He was, nevertheless, seized by the duke's people. A
scuffle ensued. Haule drew a short sword and attempted
to defend himself. His opponents were too many for
him, and, to evade their grasp, he fled towards the altar.
Seeking for an outlet, he ran twice round the altar. But
he was at last penned into a corner by his pursuers. He
called upon them not to violate the sanctuary, but, while
he was speaking, his skull was cleft in twain ; his brains
were scattered on the pavement ; another ruffian stabbed
him from behind.

The outrage was enough to provoke the populace and
every lover of justice. The Duke of Lancaster himself
felt no little annoyance at the indiscreet zeal of his par
tisans, who had exceeded their commission, and had been
provoked to the murder by the opposition of Haule.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 281

The Bishop of London, Courtenay, the vehement oppo- CHAP.
nent of the Duke of Lancaster, was not slow in making > — -^_
political capital out of the event. He excited the Lon- sudbmy.
doners, with whom he was extremely popular, against the 1375-si.
unpopular duke. He demanded the excommunication of
the offenders. But the archbishop, a partisan of the
duke, was slow to act. There was, nevertheless, the
indisputable fact, that the sanctuary was violated, the
church insulted, and the feelings of the pious outraged.
The archbishop was obliged at length — tandem, says
Walsingham, quamvis tarde — to excommunicate all who
were concerned in the nefarious transaction. But he ex
pressly excepted the Duke of Lancaster from the anathema.
He excepted the king and his mother, and not all the
royal uncles, but only — avunculum Ducem Lancastrice.

Out of alarm lest a mob of the Londoners might inter
fere with the proceedings of the parliament, the parlia
ment of 1378, as has been said, was appointed to meet at
Gloucester, and everything was done to conciliate the
clergy. Although the duke, to a certain extent, was suc
cessful, yet complaint was formally made of the late inva
sion of the franchises of the church, by the violation of the
privileges of sanctuary. It was scarcely possible to avoid
bringing the matter before parliament ; and the primate
could not refuse to be the spokesman* of his order. But
the partisans of the Duke of Lancaster diverted attention
from the particular case before the parliament, by making
a counter- complaint, to the effect that the privileges of
sanctuary had been abused. It was extended, they
averred, continually to the protection of debtors, and it
was insinuated that Haule had sought privilege in that
character.

They adduced the opinion of many doctors, learned in
both canon and civil law, to prove, that the protection
of sanctuary was only legally extended to those who were

282 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, prosecuted to the loss of life and limb. They added, that
neither pope nor lay prince had power to extend the pri
vilege of the church to debtors ; and that, if the donation
of such a privilege were offered, the church could not, in
principle and conscience, accept it.

The attack was regarded as a mere diversion, and the
bishops, though they demurred to the accuracy of the
statute, or to the force of the argument, agreed to let the
matter drop.*

On the 16th of November, the archbishop availed him
self of the attendance of a large number of the clergy at
the parliament, to hold a convocation. It assembled in a
certain chamber, within the verge of the monastery of
Peter and Paul at Gloucester, in the diocese of Worcester.
In this convocation certain constitutions were ordained and
enacted, being published by the archbishop's authority
and in his name.f An amendment was made to Arch
bishop Islip's regulations in regard to chaplains celebrating
annals, without cure of souls. They were to receive a
salary of seven marks ; or, ' with diet,' three marks. If
they accepted the cure of souls, then the salary was to be
eight marks, or, with diet, four marks.

It is a sign of the lax state of morals, that the clergy
were enjoined to remind the people that fornication is a
mortal sin ; J a fact which had been forgotten, or, rather,
kept out of sight.

* Rot. Parl. xxxv. 35, et seq. Walsingham, Edit. Riley, i. 375, et seq.

•f Lyndwood, 240. Spelman, ii. 626. Lyndwood, Append. 58.
Wilkins, iii. 135. The documents are printed in part by Spelman
and Wilkins, from the " Statutum super salariis Presbyterorum factum
per Simonem Sudbury, Cantuar. Archiepisc. 6 Cal. Dec. anno domini
1378. Ex Reg. Sudb. fol. 51. What Spelman and Wilkins omit is
given in Lyndwood.

| It was, indeed, asserted to be such by the canon law : " et sic
fornicatio simplex, quse est soluti cum soluta, est mortale peccatum.
Provinciale, 343.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 283

Lent was the usual time for confessions, and during CHAP.
that season a veil was hung before the chancel. It was ^ » '-•
therefore enacted, ' that no confessions should be made by sudbury.
a woman within the veil.' Confessions were to be made 1375~81-
in an open place, so that the penitent, though not heard,
might be seen.

It was customary for some priests to enjoin the peni
tent for some things, to pay for saying a certain number
of masses in the penitent's behoof. A priest, however, it
was suspected, might do this, to secure for himself or for
a clerical brother the money paid on this account. It
was therefore enacted, that no priest should enjoin
masses as a whole or part of a penance ; though they
might advise them.

In the diocese of London, the archbishop was fortunate
enough to settle amicably a dispute submitted to his
arbitration between the minor canons of St. Paul's and
the chapter. He permitted the minor canons to be
vested in the choir, in white surplices and with almuces
or hoods* of black stuff, lined with skins of various small
animals, and turned up with line linen or silk. They
were to wear black open capes. They were to have houses
near the church, and a common table. They were to
receive fivepence a week, and a penny on every double
feast. They were to have seven white loaves every week,

* The hood — in Latin, caputium, almucium, and amicia, &c. — was
intended originally not merely for ornament, but also for use. It was
fastened to the back of the cope, casula, or other vesture, and in case of
rain was drawn over the head. It was not confined to the clergy or to
monks. In the universities, by varying the colours and materials, the
hoods were made to signify the various degrees of graduates. In
cathedral and collegiate churches, the hoods of canons and prebendaries
were lined with fur or wool. The dispute was whether this luxury,
which was also a mark of dignity, might be worn by the minor or
petty canons. Ducange^ sub vocibus Caputium and Almucium. Palmer,
Grig. Lit. ii. 320.

284 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, each of the weight of eight marks sterling ; and three

~_X7'_. black loaves, called trencher bread, or, in hen of them,

SudbSy one Penny sterling; there were also allotted to them

1375-81. twelve bowls (bollas) of best ale, called " welkyn," or one

penny sterling, and three bowls of weaker ale. Two of

the minor canons were called cardinals, who were to

receive an allowance, twice as much as that accorded

to the other minor canons. The chief business of these

cardinals was, besides officiating on great occasions, to

administer the sacraments of the church to the sick.*

We find from " Sudbury's Eegister " that several other
regulations were made by him in matters of minor import
ance. . The festival, for instance, of St. Augustine, was
made a double ; and a vigil was added to the nativity of
the Virgin Mary. In May, 1378, the archbishop received
a letter from Bartholomew Prignano, Archbishop of Bari,
announcing his election to the papacy, under the title of
Urban VI., on the 9th of the preceding April, and solici
ting the prayers of the Church of England.

In August following, the archbishop received another
letter. It was from certain of the cardinals, who repu
diated the election of Urban ; declaring that it took place
under circumstances of intimidation. A multitude of
people, for the most part armed, had surrounded the
conclave, demanding the election of a Eoman, at least
of an Italian. They threatened death to the cardinals if
they refused. The cardinals, under the fear of death,
elected Bartholomew, Archbishop of Bari ; expecting that
he would have the modesty to refuse a place for which
the electors declared him to be unfit. They, therefore,
warned the faithful since, instead of declining the honour,
he had been crowned and enthroned, to withhold their
allegiance to that wicked man, and in no way to obey his
mandates, monitions, acts, or words. f

* Wilkins, iii. 134. f The document may be seen inWilkins, iii. 129.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 285

The document, too long for transcription or translation, CHAP.
is sufficiently vituperative ; and it is only just to state,
that whether Bartholomew Prignano, Archbishop of Bari,
was elected through intimidation or not, the sixteen car- 1375-81-
dinals who were at Eome, and who had formed the majo
rity of the sacred college, attended his coronation, and
tendered to him the homage they now called upon the
faithful to withhold ; that on the 19th of April, eleven
days after the election of Urban VI. , they informed
their colleagues remaining at Avignon of all that had
taken place ; that they positively asserted the freedom
and unanimity reigning among them ; that their private
letters correspond with their public testimonies ; that, on
this account, Urban was recognised as pope by their col
leagues at Avignon ; that for six months they administered
the affairs of the church under Urban ; that they had
assisted him in the sacred functions, and that they had ob
tained from him favours and indulgences for themselves
and their friends.*

The great schism in the Eoman church had now com
menced. As Dollinger expresses it, now at length burst
the ulcer, of which the germ was laid in the body of the
church by the transfer of the Roman see to Avignon.
The rebel cardinals, having been excommunicated by
Urban, assembled at Fondi. Here, under the protection
of the Queen of Naples, they elected Cardinal Robert of
Geneva, who assumed the name of Clement VII. f

There were now two popes. Pope Clement was, of
course, acknowledged by France, and France was fol-

* See Dollinger, iv. 130. The facts are so notorious and undisputed,
that it is unnecessary to give particular references. I generally follow
Dollinger in what relates to the papacy. Although his bias leads him
sometimes to conclusions which we cannot admit, yet he is fair in his
statement of facts.

t Dollinger, iv. 133.

286 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, lowed by Scotland, Cyprus, and Savoy ; by the kings of

— r-Y-^— ' Castile and Aragon ; by the Duke of Austria and some

Sudbury. of the German princes. Urban was received as the legi-

1375-81. timate pope by England, by the greater part of the

Empire, by Bohemia and Hungary.*

Urban's proclamation against the rebel cardinals was
received in England in the year 1379, and no one dispu
ting its authority, Archbishop Sudbury ordered its procla
mation in every diocese.

In 1379, a change in the ministry unexpectedly took
place. The financial difficulties of the country were so
great, that it was impossible for any ministry to give satis
faction; and there were other causes at work which
excited a great feeling of dissatisfaction and discontent.
In the reign of Edward the people were highly taxed, and
sometimes they complained ; but they were repaid by that
glory which was not an empty boast. It was a substantial
benefit, as it fostered a national feeling, while it asserted
our independence, and raised us to the foremost rank
among the nations of Europe. But now we had lost our
foreign possessions ; our arms were disgraced ; depreda
tions were committed upon the coast ; our harbours had
been, many of them, entered by French cruisers and
burnt ; the taxes were as heavy as before ; there had been
no reduction of expenditure ; fresh demands were made
for the public service ; the treasury was exhausted ; the
crown was in debt.

But this was not all or the worst. A spirit of insubor-

* Urban was a man much to be praised. He was devout, humble,
just, and generous. He had cultivated a powerful mind by assiduous
study, and was the patron of learned men ; but his temper was im
petuous, harsh, and obstinate. He despised the French cardinals, as men
who had been elevated to high place without learning, talent, or virtue.
He accused them of neglect of duty, and gave notice of sweeping reforms.
Hence his deposition.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 287

dination prevailed throughout the country, and was
organised to an extent unknown to the government, and
which the rulers of the state were unprepared to meet,
To the system of villeinage the reader's attention has been 13?5-si.
called more than once. From that system the country
was passing ; and all transitional states of society are
times of suffering on the one side, and of perplexity on
the other. Villeinage may be described as that condition
of the lower classes of society under which the labourer
is obliged to the performance of certain works for his
superior, without further compensation than that which is
implied in permission to find a domicile and maintenance
on his estate, and to be protected from robbery and
wrong, either by sword against a foreign enemy, or by
litigation at home. He had land as well as house, and
only differed from a paid servant by his not having wages.
It was the feudal system carried from the field of battle
into the province of labour. The villein was admitted to
the oath of fealty, which implied right of protection : it
was a mutual relation of protection and service.

The real grievance, consisting as it did in the uncer
tainty to the villein, as to the time and the quantity of the
work to be demanded of him, was not felt, to any great
extent, at the earlier period of our history. There was no
more degradation in a labouring man having to hedge and
ditch his lord's demesnes, and to discharge similar ser
vices, than there was to his lord in having to arm and
fight at the king's command, to place, witli bended knee,
his dish upon the table, or to discharge other services now
called menial.

So long as barons lived on their estates ; so long as
they employed their villeins in their sports as well as in
what related to labour ; so long as there was feasting in
the hall, accompanied by those pleasures which the
attendants upon a great lord were sure to find ; so long as

288 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, every villein knew that he was certain of protection, and
• — V-l— - that, if the baron oppressed him, the same baron would
Sudbury. protect his villein from the oppression of any one else, whe-
1375-81. j-jier prmce, peer, or prelate ; so long as they remained
in this position ; — there was little or no complaint against
the system. An estate might be cursed by a bad baron
or earl, even as the country might be cursed by a bad
king. Villeins on an estate, like the barons themselves,
on a larger sphere of action, might rebel against an op
pressor, or get rid of him as best they could ; but this was
only regarded as an unfortunate incident. It did not militate
against either kingly or baronial rule in the abstract.

Throughout the insurrectionary movements of the four
teenth century, although unpopular individuals among the
aristocracy were attacked, yet no general assault was
made upon the baronial system in general. To the king
and the nobles the instinct of the populace led them to
look for protection. They would rob the clergy to enrich
the barons ; and yet to the clergy themselves they were
not opposed, but only to the clergy who held legal offices.
But the system of villeinage became intolerable when
land began to pass into the hands of the citizen or the
burgess. The commercial man purchased landed property
as an investment of money. He paid his money, and
would have his money's worth. He purchased an estate
with the villeins attached to it. Out of the villeins he was
to get as much work as he possibly could ; and he gave
nothing in return. The right which the villein formerly
claimed, in return for labour paid, of residing on the
estate, became an oppression. The villein said, " If I
cannot obtain protection — if the old hall is no longer open
to me — if the mutual offices of kindness between superior
and inferior no longer exist — I will go and obtain better
remuneration elsewhere." He received for answer, " No,
you are my property ; I have purchased you, and here

ARCHBISHOFS OF CANTERBURY. 289

you remain." And so the villein felt himself a slave, and
was prepared to rebel.

It will have been observed that the House of Commons, Su!ibury.
while at this time fighting for and achieving the rights of the 1375~81-
middle classes — the commercial men, and those who had,
through successful commerce, become landed proprietors
— was as vehement in its determination to keep down
the villeins, and to make them work ; as the most en
thusiastic republican in the Southern States of North
America is now for the institution which reduces a large
portion of our fellow-creatures to a state of slavery. *

These were the persons who were employing the law
yers, and almost created the profession of an attorney.
They required lawyers out of court to make good their
title-deeds, and among their chattels to take account of
the villeins of the estates they purchased.*}1 Hence it is that

* Parliament was at this time vehemently opposed to the rights of the
lower orders and the villeins. To benefit them was to injure the middle
classes, who purchased the villeins regardant, when they purchased an
estate. When Richard II. (who before he was corrupted by luxury
was a youth of generous impulses) suggested to parliament the wisdom
of abolishing a state of bondage, the very proposal was regarded as an
unconstitutional invasion of the liberties of the subject, and he was
compelled by parliament to revoke the charters of emancipation which
'the villeins had previously compelled him to grant. The dictum of
parliament was that no man could deprive them of the services of their
villeins without their consent. In the parliament of 1381, it was
unanimously determined that all grants of liberties and manumissions
to the said villeins and bond-tenants obtained by force, were in dis-
inherison of them — the lords and commons— and destructive of the
realm, and therefore null and void. Parl. Hist. i. 364. Insurrection is
always attended by misery ; but we may presume that there is no reader
who would not, if he had been in the situation of a villein, have joined
in this insurrection.

f To the circumstances stated above we must add that it was at this
period of our history that the equitable jurisdiction of the Court of
Chancery was completely established. It was long and often opposed,
owing to the obnoxious character of the writ of subpcena which was

VOL. IV. U

290 LIVES OF THE

we account for what is perplexing very frequently to the
reader of this portion of English History — the hostility of
the insurgents to the lawyers, and their violence in seeking
^e destruction of all muniments and public documents.
This at length became a fanaticism, and the very ability i:o
draw up an obnoxious document, by being able to read
and write, became treason to the people.*

The villeins in gross had been already emancipated.
They can hardly be said to have existed when the slave
trade had ceased ; unless we regard as such the servants
011 an estate, who were attached not to the property but
to the person of the lord. Many villeins regardant had
also become freemen by following their lords to the ware.
Of these some returned home, the victors of Cressy and
Poictiers, covered with honour. Eemaining among the
retainers of their lords, these formed that strong body op
armed men, that military force which enabled the crowr
and the aristocracy to defend their own against the insur-

now introduced. The chancellor was passing from the character of the
first adviser of the crown into a judge, who might or might not, accord
ing to circumstances, become the chief minister of state. See Hardy's
Introduction to Close Rolls, xxx.

* We must distinguish between the just rising of the people against
oppression and wrong, and the subsequent excesses and follies and
crimes into which, for want of wise leaders, the injured people fell. We
must even distinguish between Wat Tyler, goaded to insurrection by
wrongs, and acting at first with discretion, and the same man intoxicated
by success and maddened, it is to be feared or hoped, by drink. All the
people wanted at first was to place the king at their head, and to compel
parliament to find a remedy for their grievances. There are certain
documents now in the Public Record Office, forming No. 202 of the
miscellaneous records formerly kept in the Chapter House at Westmin
ster, entitled " Praesentationes de Malefactoribus qui surrexerunt contra
Dominum Regem, 4 et 5 Ric. II.", which it is to be hoped will soon be
published. Extracts from these are given in a luminous and interesting
paper published in the " Archasologia Cantiana," by Mr. Flaherty. They
show, as he justly observes, that the commotion had a more adequate
cause and a longer duration than is generally supposed.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 291

rectionists, and to extend their protection to the middle CHAP.
classes. But those who formed the military force of - — ~^-
the country were attached chiefly to the more powerful sulibury.
earls and barons, who still reigned, like kings, in their 1375-81-
respective localities. By these the lesser barons would
have been overpowered if the lesser barons had not been
brought into association by the wars. These barons had
become aware that it was only by combination they could
maintain their own against the aggressions of the greater
nobles on the one side, and the rising middle class on the
other. They formed themselves into an aristocracy ; they
studied law and statecraft. They formed the class which
contended that barons, who had private resources to
assist them in maintaining their dignity, were better quali
fied to conduct the affairs of the nation than lawyers and
statesmen who fell back upon their ecclesiastical prefer
ments. But they required rents to be paid in money, and
of their property they determined to make the most.
They sympathised with the citizens. Instead, therefore,
of maintaining their old baronial grandeur, they confided
the management of their estates to agents. The estates of
these barons were in a condition similar to those possessed
by the commercial aristocracy.

But another evil resulted from this state of things. The
lesser barons no longer retained a princely retinue at their
castles ; and the gallant men who had fought by their side
in foreign parts, now dismissed from their service, were
turned loose upon society. They felt it no dishonour to
compel the country, the battles of which they had fought,
to requite their services. If the king neglected to remu
nerate them from his treasury, the king's highway was no
longer to be regarded as a place of security for the tra
veller, upon whom they levied black mail.

These men, acquainted with the importance of disci
pline, were prepared not only to assist the insurgents in

u 2

292 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, asserting their rights but also in organising their forces.

— XV' -, The masses were also joined by a large portion of the

Smibury clergy. The lower class of clergy made common cause

1375-81. witli the villeins. Sons of villeins themselves, they were

emancipated when they were admitted into holy orders ;

but incapable, or too indolent, though schools were opened

to them, to raise themselves by intellectual culture and

moral conduct to a high position, they filled the lowest

offices in cathedral and collegiate churches ; where, to the

superior clergy, they were in a position similar to that

occupied by their brethren with reference to the lords ;>f

the manor. We have no class of clergy in modern tiniBs

so low as these. They were filled with envy, hatred, ar d

malice against their superiors, many of whom had started

in life with no greater advantages.

To the Duke of Lancaster and his party the people
were decidedly opposed, because he had attached himself
to that middle class which was, at this time, regardel
by the villeins as their deadly enemies. He supported tha
inferior nobles against the clerical occupiers of office ; and
sided with the commons when maintaining their rights
over the villeins regardant, whom they were treating
not as men earning protection by labour but as mere serfs.

Through the influence of the clergy, whom he had thm
offended, the Duke of Lancaster was deprived of power av,
the commencement of King Eichard's reign ; but he hac
now obtained a parliament which, discontented witL
the existing state of public affairs, was determined to give
him their support.

The eluke's party was once more in the ascendant ; but
his policy was changed. He found that he could not form
an efficient ministry without employing the clergy, and he
was prepared to give proof of his sincerity by discarding
his former adviser Wiclif. He had already taken the com
mand of the army, and was constituted Lieutenant of

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 293

the Marches of Scotland. He appointed Archbishop CHAP.
Sudbury, to the surprise and discontent of his former - — r<—
supporters, Lord Chancellor. Sudbmy.

Such was the state of public feeling in the country
when, on the 4th of July 1379, the archbishop received
the Great Seal.* The Lancaster party did not venture to
summon the parliament to meet in London, where the
opponents of the duke were still violent and strong, and
under the influence of his great opponent, the Bishop of
London. Northampton was selected as a central spot.*)*
Here the parliament, after some adjournments, met
in a chamber belonging to the Priory of St. Andrew.
The archbishop, as chancellor, declared the object of
the meeting. The expenditure of the country had ex
ceeded the income. The war in France, conducted by
the Earl of Buckingham, the expedition in Scotland, the
defence of Guienne, and the various expenses incurred by
the government in Ireland, had reduced the king to such
straits that he had been obliged to pawn the crown-
jewels. Owing to the disturbances in Flanders, the late
subsidy on wool had realised little. The government was
in arrears with the armies in the marches of Calais, at
Brest, and at Cherbourg : it was feared that the soldiers
would desert if payment were long delayed. J

The parliament was required to advise the king how he
was to fulfil his engagements and meet the expenses neces
sary for the protection of the coast. The House of Commons

* Rot. Glaus. 3, Ric. II. m. 22.

f Northampton was a common place for holding great Councils,
especially under Henry II. and Richard I. Later on, they were held
in Shropshire, Warwickshire (Kenilworth), Oxford, Leicester, &c. The
great monastic houses in Northampton provided accommodation for
strangers. It was now evidently selected as being at an easy distance
to those lords who were serving on the Scottish border under the Duke
of Lancaster.

\ Rot. Parl.

294 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, required that an account of the expenses should be sub-
_xv',^ mitted to their inspection, and called upon the government
Sudbray. to state w^at was n'^ely to be tlie sum required. This
1375-81. was a great constitutional step on the part of the House
of Commons. The government replied that a sum not less
than one hundred and sixty thousand pounds would be
necessary to meet the exigencies of the country. This
was considered an exorbitant demand ; and the prelates
and lords were requested to form themselves into a com
mittee, to devise the ways and means. This committee of
the House of Lords received, of course, the proposals of
the chancellor representing the government ; and Sudbury
must fairly be rendered accountable for the measures now
adopted.

Here it is necessary to refer to the government which
that of Sudbury had superseded. That government had
determined to resort to a measure of direct taxation, and
it went upon the principle of sparing the poor and o?
levying payment on the rich. A capitation-tax, toge
ther with a duty on the sale of merchandise, or the
imposition of a tenth or fifteenth, had been deter
mined upon in the parliament of 1378. The capita
tion was to be graduated according to each person's
rank and estate : —

The Dukes of Lancaster and Bretagne,* each 10 marks.

Every earl, £4.

Every baron, banneret, and knight, having an estate as good
as a baron's, 40s.

Every baroness, being a widow, as a baron, and every ban-
neress as a banneret, 40s.

Every knight bachelor, or esquire, who, by his estate, ought
to be made a knight, 20s.

Every widow of such knight bachelor, or esquire, 20s.

* The Duke of Bretagne, John de Montford, had certain lands and
possessions in England.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 295

Every esquire of estate, 4s. 7d. CHAP.

Every esquire without land, but bearing arms, 3s. 3c?. . x V'

Priors of the Hospital of St. John, each as a baron, 40s. Simon

Sudbury.

Every commander of the order, 20s. 1375-81.

Every knight of the order, 1 3s. 4d.

Every brother of the order, 3s. 4d.

Every justice, as well of one bench as of the other, and the
chief baron of the exchequer, each 100s.

Every serjeant and great apprentice of the law, 40s.

Other apprentices which follow the law, 20s.

All other apprentices of less estate, and attorneys, each
6s. Sd,

The mayor of London shall pay as an earl, £4.

The aldermen of London, each as a baron, 40s.

All other mayors of great towns in England, each as a baron,
40s.

Other mayors of smaller towns, according to the value of
their estates, 20s., 10s., or 6s. Sd.

And all jurats of good towns, and great merchants of the
realm, shall pay as bachelors, each 20s.

Other sufficient merchants, 8s. 4d.

All lesser merchants, and artificers, husbandmen, or who live
upon tillage, according to the value of their estate, 4s. 8cZ.,
3s. 4d, 2s., 12(7., or 6d.

Every serjeant and freeman of the country, according to their
estate, 6s. Sd., or 40(7.

The farmers of manors, parsonages, and granges, merchants of
beasts, and other buyers and sellers, according to their estates,
6s. 8d, 40d, 2s., or I2d.

All advocates, notaries, and proctors who are married shall
pay as Serjeants of the law ; and apprentices of the law and
attorneys, each according to their estate, 40s., 20s., or 6s. 8d.

Apparitors that are married, according to their estates,
3s. 4d, 2s., or I2d.

All innkeepers that have not the estate of a merchant shall
pay, each according to his estate, 40cZ., 2s., or I2d.

Every married man, for himself and his wife, that have not
the estates abovenamed, and above the age of 16, except very
beggars, 4cZ.

296 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. And every man and woman unmarried, of such an estate, and

x v- above the age aforesaid, 4cZ.

Simon Also every strange merchant, of what condition soever, shall

137 5-8 1! PaJ> according to his ability, as other denizens.*

The clergy in convocation accepted the principle of
direct taxation. The following scale is taken from Sud
bury' s Registrum c. : —

£ s. d.

The Archbishop of Canterbury . . . . 6 13 4
Bishops and mitred abbots, being peers of the realm 4 0 <)
Abbots, deans of cathedrals, and priors of convents

not peers . . . . . . . .300

All who possessed benefices above the yearly value of

£200 2 0 ('

From £100 to £200 1 10 0

From £66 13s. 4d. to £100 100

From £40 to £66 13s. 4d 0134

From £20 to £40 0 10 0

From £10 to £20 050

All other clerks 020

Monks and nuns were to pay each according to the
value of the houses to which they belonged, 40<rZ., 20rf.,
one shilling, or a groat. When we multiply these
sums by 20 or 25 we find this to be a high rate of
taxation.

It would have have been weh1 for Sudbury, if he had
abided by this wise regulation. But the tax had not
been properly collected, and the collectors had probably
found it difficult to compel the powerful to pay their
quota. The parliament of 1380, therefore, over which
Sudbury presided as chancellor, granted a poll-tax, under
its most unjust and oppressive form, — a groat to be paid
by every subject above the age of fifteen years.

•>.

* Parl. Hist, i. 347.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 297

The excitement in the country was immediate, and
soon became alarming.* Information was received in
London of the seditious preaching of John Balle. He
used the ordinary language of unprincipled demagogues,
but was evidently a cleverer man than his opponents were
willing to admit. He asserted that things would never
prosper in England, until ah1 distinctions should be levelled,
and vassal and lord should become words without mean
ing. We are all descended from a common ancestor : and
why were some to be clothed in velvet and rich stuffs,
ornamented with ermine and other expensive furs, while
others were obliged to wear coarse cloth ? Why were
some to have wine, spices, and fine bread, and others to
have only water for drink and rye-bread for their food ?
Why must some take their ease in their mansions and
manors, and we be exposed to wind and heat, labouring
for their service, and reviled as slaves if we neglect to
minister to their pomp ? We have now, too, no sovereign
to whom we can complain — no king to hear our petitions,
and to grant us redress. To the king, however, young
as he is, let us go : let us remonstrate with him on our
servitude, and tell him that redress he must grant us, or
else that we shall take it ourselves.

He did more, however, by putting two lines into the
mouths of men than he could have done by all of his
harangues : —

When Adam dalve and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman ?

It is thus that a demagogue damages a good cause.
The lower orders were wronged ; they deserved what they
demanded, — a redress of their grievances. But men

* I have given the narrative of the insurrection, so far as it concerns
Sudbuiy, by a comparison of the statements of Walsingham, Knighton,
and Frcissart.

298 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, like Dalle, by appealing to their lower passions, inflamed
their envy, hatred, and malice ; and instead of rousing
them to patriotism, rendered them rebels against that
constituted order of things, which must exist so long as
man remains as lie is ; or, as the Christian would say,
until perfect equality among the elect is established by the
second advent of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.*

Measures were adopted, which were calculated to exas
perate but not to intimidate the rioters, and to inflame
their passions, more especially against the chancellor,
who was supposed to have originated the poll-tax. Cer
tain persons were incarcerated, as Balle had been, only to
give the mob a triumph by their liberation, f Commis
sioners to collect the poll-tax and judges were sent down
into the disturbed districts, but were frequently met by
an armed mob and driven back to the metropolis. The
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was sent into Essex to
try the offenders : he was quickly put to flight. The
jurors and clerks of the commission were beheaded, and

* An account of John Balle is to be found in Knyghton, col. 2634 ;
and in Froissart, i. 653. All the writers of his age, of course, speak
against him. Froissart calls him " a crazy priest," who, for his absurd
preaching, had been thrice incarcerated by the Archbishop of Canter
bury. In the " Lollard Proceedings " he is spoken of as " Sacerdos
Dominus Johannes Ball, qui incarceratus est per Simonem Cantuarien-
seni Archiepiscopum et Willellmum Londoniensem Episcopum, propter
heereses quas pra3dicavit." Fasc. Zizan. 273. Knyghton speaks of him
as " Johannes Ball, capellanus, qui pradicator famosissimus habebatur
apud laicos." Accordingly Neander, ix. 215, speaks of him as chap
lain to the archbishop. But this is certainly a mistake, as in the arch
bishop's mandate he is described as " Presbyterum se praetendentem."
Wilkins, iii. 152. According to Froissart, he was imprisoned for three
months and then set at liberty ; but all other authorities state that he
was released from prison by the mob, whom he then urged to kill the
archbishop.

•f See Fcedera, iii. 880, where a licence is given to the archbishop to
imprison Nicolas de Drayton.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 299

their heads, stuck upon poles, were paraded through the
villages. Sudbury was with the king at Windsor when
the disturbances commenced, and with the other officers Sudbury.
of state attended the king, when he was removed to 1375-81-
the Tower, as a place of greater security. The reports
from the country became more and more alarming ; and
there were no means of resisting the rioters if they should
come to London. The king's army was on the borders
of Scotland. Whatever troops not in the army the
barons could have mustered, they required for the defence
of their manors and castles. The mass of the people in
London sympathised with the movement, and no depend
ence could be placed even upon the garrison in the Tower.

All that the rioters desiderated was a leader. If they
could have secured a man of genius to lead them, the
insurrection would have terminated in a revolution in
which philanthropists would have rejoiced. But when
the leader did come he was a man not adequate to the
crisis, and who was stultified by success.

A brutal collector of the poll-tax gave the insurgents
what they wanted. The history of Wat Tyler is too well
known to be repeated here. lie did what any father
would have done, and ought to do : he felled to the earth
a ruffian who had offered an insult to his daughter. His
country denied him justice, and he placed himself at the
head of the revolt. At first he conducted himself with an
amount of discretion and courage which, if persevered in,
would have raised him to eminence. But he became
intoxicated by a partial success, and the man who might
have been a hero became a vulgar rioter.

The news now came to London that Kent was con
vulsed from one end to the other — from Eomney Marsh
to Thanet, from Dartford to Whitstable. The rioters had
entered Canterbury, where they pillaged and dismantled
the archbishop's palace. Sudbury was particularly

300 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, obnoxious to the men of Kent, for the depreciatory
— *— - observations he had made with reference to pilgrimages
Sadbray. to the shrine of St. Thomas the Martyr. By many of the
m$-8i. cj|.jzens tne insurgents had been cordially welcomed. As
the rioters took possession of the archbishop's furniture,
they said that the chancellor had obtained it at the
expense of the public, and that he should now render an
account of all the money spent since the coronation of
the king. They had military possession of Canterbury
till the end of June — that is, till the death of Wat Tyler.
The rioters now resolved to send a detachment to London.
Confederations of the lower classes had been formed long
since in various districts, only waiting for the time of
action. Emissaries were therefore sent to Essex, Suffolk,
Bedford, and other counties impatient for the signal to
revolt, to urge, on their part, a simultaneous march to
London for the purpose of surrounding it.

The army from Canterbury found recruits in every vil
lage ; and, as Froissart says, swept along like a tempest,
destroying every house belonging to an attorney, or the
property of the archbishop.

The party in the Tower were, of course, greatly alarmed,
but there was no one with vigour of mind adequate to
the occasion, or capable of suggesting a method of resisting
the threatened attack. There were with the king, besides
the archbishop and the great officers of state, the king's
uterine brothers, the Earl of Kent and Sir John Holland,
the Earls of Salisbury, Warwick, and Suffolk, with a few
others. The king's mother, the Princess Dowager of
Wales, had gone on a pilgrimage to visit her husband's
tomb at Canterbury, and to pay her devotions at the
shrine of St. Thomas the Martyr.

The princess, however, soon presented herself at court,
having, on her return, encountered the rioters. They had
treated the widow of the Black Prince and the mother of

ARCHBISHOPS OP CANTERBURY. 301

the king with rough gallantry. One or two demanded a CHAP.
kiss of the fair rnaid of Kent, and she had good-huniouredly « — r-^-
paid the ransom required. She was the adviser of con- sudbury,
ciliatory measures, to which Sudbury was opposed. The 1375-8L
first object of the insurgents was to obtain possession of
the young king's person. With him at their head, and in
his name, they thought to make war upon their oppressors.*
They expected, from their treatment of the princess his
mother, that she would have persuaded the king that if
he would only trust in them he would be treated loyally ;
and, in their disappointment, they became bitterly hostile
to her. Yet she evidently did her best in their cause,
generously if not wisely.

On the 12th of June, intelligence reached the Tower,
that the insurgents were encamped at Blackheath. On the
day following it was announced, that no less a personage
than Sir John Newton claimed an audience with the kin"1.

He came as an emissary from the Commons of England,
as the insurgents now desired to be styled.

Sir John Newton had been governor of Eochester,
under the title of constable and captain, when the citizens
threw open the gates of that city, to give the insurgents
a hearty welcome. Under the threat of death he was
compelled to join them. They were at first acting with
wisdom and caution ; and as detachments passed from
the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Staf
ford, and Lincoln to join the forces before London,
their policy was, when they obtained an advantage over

* The reader who is astonished at the easy manner in which Richard
was able to put down this rebellion must bear this fact in mind. The
mass of the people had been led to think that this was the one object to
be had in view. When Richard appeared among them they were
nearly satisfied ; when he said, " I am your leader," they were com
pletely so. What was to be the next step ? Wat Tyler was dead.
No one could answer the question, and, not knowing what to do, they
dispersed.

302 LIVES OF THE

CITAP. lords and knights, to spare their lives, if they would enlist

-^— > in the service of the Commons. Among these were the

Sudbury. Lord Mauley, Sir Stephen Hales, and Sir Thomas Cassington.

o]3jecj- was to give £O the insurrection the appearances
of a national movement. These lords and knights were
prisoners in fact, but when placed in the van, glittering
in armour, they might be mistaken for leaders.

Steady in their object of obtaining the person of the
king, that he also might appear as their leader, they now
despatched Sir John Newton to the court. He was com
missioned to inform the young king, that what the insur
gents had done was done for his service ; that the com
mons had been, for some years, miserably governed, to the
dishonour of the realm, and the oppression of the lower
ranks of the people. He was to lay the blame on the
king's uncles, and more particularly on the lord chancel
lor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom they were
determined to bring to an account.

Sir John Newton performed his office, if not with much
dignity, yet not unfaithfully. Proceeding along the Surrey
side of the river, until he came opposite to the Tower, he
there took boat and crossed over. He was immediately
admitted into the presence of the king, and threw himself
at his feet. " My much redoubted lord," he said, " be
not offended with me for the message which I am
about to deliver ; for I am constrained by force to come."
The king assured him that he would take no offence, and
told him to proceed. The knight then went on to say : —
" My very redoubted lord, I am sent by the Commons of
your realm, to entreat you to grant them an interview at
Blackheath. They desire that you should be unattended ;
and, for your personal safety, you need have no fear : they
will not do you the slightest injury, for they have always
respected, and will continue to respect, you as their king.
But they have many things to tell you which, they say,
it is expedient for you to hear, but the purport of which

AECHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 303

they have not confided to me." He added, — " Dear lord, CHAP.

1 beseech you to return me an answer such as will give ,_

them satisfaction, and convince them, that I have really Sudbury.
been admitted to an interview ; for they have my children 13?o-8i.
as hostages, whom, if I do not return to them, they will
assuredly put to death."

The king promised an answer as soon as possible, and
a council was immediately summoned : the attendance of
the Lord Mayor and the principal citizens of London was
required. At that council it was resolved, that the king
should accede to the wishes of the people ; and, to secure
for him a better reception, Sudbury resigned the chancel
lorship, though he agreed to retain the Great Seal until
his successor was appointed.

Sir John Newton stated the insurgents to be sixty thou
sand strong ; and he was dismissed with an assurance that,
if the leaders of the Commons would assemble on the
banks of the Thames on the morrow, the king would meet
them.*

On the morning of the 27th the king, with his whole
court, attended service in the chapel of the Tower ; and
he then entered his barge. The Earls of Salisbury, War
wick, and Suffolk, with a few knights, escorted him. He
rowed down the Thames to Botherhithe. Here an im
mense crowd was assembled, upwards of ten thousand
persons, from the camp at Blackheath, eager to see the
young king. They received him with shouts of joy, and

* Froissart, who is our chief authority for the statements given above,
informs us that " this answer gave great pleasure. They passed the
night as well as they could ; but you must know that one-fourth of
them fasted for want of provisions, as they had not brought any with
them, at which they were much vexed, as may be supposed." This
quaint passage is valuable. It shows the honesty of purpose with which
this justifiable insurrection was first organised. It shows also the
extreme mismanagement which at last made the rioters ungovernable,
and, leading them into crime, made them easy victims of their
oppressors.

304 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, were the more excited as they had been inclined to doubt

• — ^— the sincerity of Sir John Newton, when he promised that

Sucibury. the king would come.

1375-81. rpjie courtiers were, however, alarmed ; they knew not
which way to interpret the shouts. They would not per
mit the king to land, but rowed him up and down, eo
that all might see him. The boat at one period stopped,
and the king bravely said : — " Hither have I come, ac
cording to your wish, and now what have you to say?"
The people replied, that they wished him to land, and
then, at their leisure, they could make known to him their
wrongs and requirements. The Earl of Salisbury, with
sarcastic insolence, interposed. " Gentlemen," he sail ,
" you are not properly dressed for an interview with
the king, nor in a condition to receive him properly.''
He ordered the barge to be swung round and rowed
back to the Tower, where the archbishop and other mem
bers of the council were anxiously awaiting to hear the
result.

The court could not be surprised at hearing that, wher
the proceedings at Eotherhithe were reported to the camp
at Blackheath, a feeling of indignation was excited ; but
they were not prepared to hear of the almost immediate
arrival of the insurgents at the gate upon London Bridge.
The insurgents had marched to the city in a state oi
wild excitement, having destroyed en route the houses
of every lawyer and courtier which came in their way,
together with the monasteries, and now they demanded an
entrance into the city. They threatened, if they were not
immediately admitted, to cross the river and, having
first destroyed the beautiful and extensive suburbs by
which London was surrounded, to take the city by
storm.

They had a strong party within the walls, who demanded
that the gates should be opened " to these honest men,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 305

their friends, who were doing what they did for the pub- CHAP.
lie good." Among the magistrates there were some who ^_ 5^
sympathised with " the Commons," and the gates were
thrown open. The first object with those who entered was
to obtain food. A commissariat department had not been
thought of by the insurgents ; and the crowds pressing
into the city were nearly famished. There was a rush to
the provision shops ; and the citizens sought to propitiate
their invaders by presenting them with all manner of good
cheer. To a continuance of that good cheer we must at
tribute the failure of the enterprise. As wine and beer
were imbibed the patriotic spirit evaporated. What was
at first an army became eventually a mob.

The archbishop heard that the insurgents had pro
ceeded, twenty thousand strong, to the Duke of Lancaster's
palace of the Savoy, which they deliberately destroyed.
This was a warning to him ; for it spoke, in intelligible
language, of their deadly hatred of the Duke of Lancas
ter's party. They next attacked the Knights Hospitalers,
and the Flemish merchants; for they were strong pro
tectionists. The houses of the Lombards were ransacked,
and any money found there was appropriated to the public
service. But the wine was beginning to do its fatal
work. Blood was shed. Richard Lyon, a citizen, to
whom Wat Tyler had been a servant, and who had mal
treated him, was beheaded ; and his head, fixed on a spike,
was paraded through the streets of London. The public
good was sacrificed to private malignity.

Within the Tower, all was confusion and alarm. The
garrison was not strong enough to resist a vigorous
assault ; and among the troops some were in league with
the insurgents.

Towards Thursday evening, the rioters, in great num
bers, assembled in St. Catherine's Square, in front of
the Tower. They declared, that thence they would not

VOL, iv. x

306 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, depart, until they had obtained from the king a redress

XV'-> of their grievances ; and until the Chancellor of England

Sudbur. was brought before them, to account for his prodigal expen-

1375-81. diture of the public money. If the accounts should prove
unsatisfactory, they openly declared that they would be
satisfied with nothing less than the archbishop's life.

Sudbury understood his danger, and prepared to face
it as became a Christian. It was now that the best
parts of his character, and his truly religious confidence
in his God and Saviour, were shown. The yells ema
nating from the inebriated mob in St. Catherine's Square
were terrific. All were in a state of perplexity and
alarm. He alone remained, self-possessed. He advised
the holding of a council, to which Sir William Wai worth,
the lord mayor, and the city magistrates were k-
vited. They reported that the rioters were sixty thousand
strong, but that not one in twenty was armed. A largB
number were either dead drunk, or rolling about the city
in a state of mad intoxication. They also gave informa
tion that Sir Eobert Knolles, Sir Perducas d'Albreth, and
other great men, had a large body of armed men within
their walls, for the protection of their property ; so that
upon a signal given, not less than eight thousand men mighi
be mustered, beneath whose swords the rioters might be
destroyed like fiies. The council, however, and among
them the Earl of Salisbury, thought that an attempt thus
to fall upon the rioters now in London would be inex
pedient and dangerous. If the insurgents were attacked
and the attack should fail, every man of noble blood
would fall a victim to their fury ; whereas, at present, it
was not against the old nobility that their passions were
inflamed. Upon the commonalty of London no depend
ence could be placed ; if swords were drawn, they would
be found in large numbers to join the forces of the enemy.
The Earl of Salisbury advised the king to adopt a concilia-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 307

tory measure, to speak kindly to the people, and with fair CHAP.

speeches to grant their demand. It was well that this » — r*-
advice was followed, for it was afterwards discovered that

out of the twelve magistrates, three were on the side of 1375~81-
the insurgents.

On the Friday morning, the mob in St. Catherine's
Square increased. They were fierce in their vociferations ;
and declared that if the king were not permitted to come
fortli to commune with his people, the Tower should be
attacked and entrance into the royal presence be obtained
by force.

The feelings of the insurgents were awfully excited
when it was reported, and the report was correct, that
the archbishop and Sir Eobert of Hales, Master of the
Hospitalers, advised the young king, that it would be
beneath his dignity to go fortli and hold a conference
with a parcel of sansculottes.* There were traitors within
the Tower who betrayed the secrets of the council. Ven
geance against the archbishop now became a passion.

If, as judging from subsequent events, those who advised
the king to concede the demands of the commonalty, only
intended to make the poor young man a deceiver, and a
traitor to his people — calming them by promises to be

* The \vords of Walsingham are: "Dicentes nequaqiiam debere
regem adire tales discaligatos ribaldos." The history of this insur
rection is written by partisans of the upper and middle classes, and
the cause was ruined by the dementation of Wat Tyler and his confede
rates. But there must have been wise heads as well as strong hands
at work. What could be more moderate and wise than the demands —
the abolition of slavery, into which villeinage was sinking ; the reduc
tion of the rent of land to fourpence an acre ; liberty of buying and
selling in all fairs and markets ; and a general amnesty ? Let it be
remembered that a charter conceding all these points was granted. The
charter to each town was signed, sealed, and delivered ; and the king
was base enough afterwards, on the petition of the House of Commons,
to cancel it, and cruel enough to hand over these injured people by hun
dreds to the executioner.

x 2

308 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, immediately repudiated, when he was strong enough to
_ xv>_^ play the liar, — then the archbishop was not so much to
Sudbury blame f°r ^e advice he gave. But for that advice he died.
1375-81. T}ie people raised a shout of joy, when a message came
from the king that he would meet the commons of Eng
land in the people's park — for such it was — at Mile End.
The heart of the people was loyal ; and off they went to
receive from royal lips the lie, which became the deat i-
warrant to many of them.

" Where is the lord chancellor, — where the lord trea
surer, — where those traitors to the people ? " This was
the question asked, when in royal state King Eichard
came forth from the Tower, and presented himself to his
rejoicing subjects.

When it was discovered that the chancellor and
treasurer had not dared to face the people, orders wer3
given to a chosen body, upon whom Wat Tyler could
rely, ruffians ever ready to do his bidding, to detach
themselves from the main body of the insurgents, .and
to be prepared to attack the Tower, within which there
were some who had signified their readiness to open the
unguarded gates. They were to execute judgment, as it
was called, upon the chancellor and the treasurer.

Simon Sudbury is one of those whose heroism and
whose truly Christian spirit is shown in their death. He
was well aware, that among the king's counsellors there
were some who cared but little for his fate, and had no
intention to leave a sufficient guard within the Tower
to protect him if the Tower were attacked. He was
too well aware that, for whatever reason, he had not
to expect much mercy at the hands of the insurgents.
They might possibly respect his sacred character, but this
was all his hope on earth. His heart was with his Saviour,
in whom alone he had long lived through the means of
grace, and by whom he felt prepared for what the morrow

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 309

would bring forth. The true Christian fears not death, CHAP.
but he may fear the act of dying. He might fear lest, if « — ~r^~- •
death came to him under some unexpected form, his Sudbuiy.
courage might fail him, when by his death he desired to 1375-81-
speak to the hearts of those who turned a deaf ear to his
words. He expected to be assassinated. He thought, no
doubt, as all English prelates did in time of danger, of St.
Thomas of Canterbury. If he asked for his intercession,
it was not to the exclusion of that intercession upon
which both had relied, — the intercession of The One and
Only Mediator between God and man.

The old man officiated in the chapel of the Tower, and
administered the Holy Communion to the king and his
court on the morning of the 14th. They on their knees
received his benediction. They went forth. He heard
them mounting their horses in the court below. He heard
the distant shouts of people as the portcullis was raised
by those who purposely omitted to let it fall again. He
was in the chapel, attended only by his chaplains. They
were all prostrate before the altar in silent prayer, — when
the shouts of the assailants indicated that they had posses
sion of the Tower. The people were committing great
excesses. The noise, however, showed that they were
coming nearer to the chapel. " Where is the traitor ? "
they were now shouting. " Where is the plunderer of
the commons ? Turn him out ! turn him out ! The
traitor, where is he ? "

The chaplains and attendants of the archbishop rushed
to the chapel-door to bar it against the entrance of the
mob, but the brave old man called them back. Resistance
would be vain ; they must be overpowered. Their resist
ance could only cause the shedding of more blood. " Let
the servant of the Lord depart in peace," he said ; "to
die is better than to live, when by living we can be no
longer of service to others. Never in my life have I been

310 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, in a state of mind so tranquil as that which I now enjoy."
-_ xv' . He smiled benignantly, and was extending his hands to
sfidbury bless nig obedient people kneeling before him, when the
1375-81. shouts, " Where is the traitor ? " became louder and more
distinct, as the door of the chapel, yielding to pressure
from without, fell down with a crash upon the pave
ment. Seeing the archbishop in front of them, with his
cross in his left hand, and a chaplain standing, with the
sacrament in his right hand, the people were for a
moment awe-stricken and silent. The primate spoke :
" Behold the archbishop whom ye seek ; no traitor he ;
no plunderer of the commons ; but your pastor." While
he was speaking, some of the mob had placed themselves
between the archbishop and the altar. He had hardly
ceased from speaking before he found his arms pinioned.
A shout from within announced to those who were with
out that the chancellor was captured. They were no:
come to massacre an archbishop, but, as they deemed it,
to execute justice on a traitorous lord-chancellor. They
would not permit the archbishop to appear as he wished,
as their pastor ; if they had done so, the event might
have probably been different. A pinioned helpless criminal
was to be presented to the mob without. Nothing could
have been more humiliating, more painful, than the position
of the archbishop — dragged from the chapel, and, amidst
the scoffs of his captors, presented to the people at different
parts of the Tower. The pinioned man could not raise
himself to speak so as to be heard when all around were
noise and confusion. He was marched between men with
their swords drawn, to Tower Hill. The yell with which
he was greeted when he was seen coming out of the
Tower, was terrible to a heart which, filled with love to
God and man, was met with execration.* A block was

* " Quo cum pervenisset, factus est clamor horrendissiinus, non

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 311

extemporised. All the usual forms in the execution of CHAP.
traitors were, as far as circumstances would admit, ob- . — -r^
served. The executioner was not forthcoming : one of the sudbury.
mob, unused to the dreadful trade, undertook to do the 1375~81-
deed of blood. According to custom, silence was pro
claimed, for the dying speech and confession of the culprit.
The arms of. the archbishop were now unbound : he pre
pared to speak. The stern character of the man evinced
itself to the last. " Take heed," he said, " my beloved
children in the Lord, what thing ye now do. For what
offence is it that ye doom to death your pastor, your
prelate, your archbishop ? Oh ! take heed lest for the
act of this day all England be laid under the curse of an
interdict."

The speech was not calculated to pacify the people,
who would hear no more, but shouted out that they
cared for neither interdict nor pope ; but that, as a man
who had been false to the commons and had betrayed the
people, he must die.

The archbishop laid himself upon the ground, reclining
his head upon the block. The axe, wielded by an un
skilful hand, fell on his neck, only inflicting a slight
wound. In his agony he raised his hand to his head,
exclaiming, " Ah ! ah ! manus Domini est." But while he
was speaking, the axe again fell, amputating the tips of
his fingers. Dreadful must have been his sufferings, for
this butchery was not completed until the axe had fallen
eight times upon his neck.

With him were put to death Sir Eobert Hales, the
lord treasurer ; a Franciscan friar of the Duke of Lan-

similis clamoribus quos edere solent homines, sed qui ultra omnem
asstimationem superaret omnes clamores humanos, et maxime posset
assimilari ululatibus infernalium incolarum." — Walsingham, i. 460, ed.
Riley.

312 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, caster's party ; * and John Lee, or Legge, who had been a
x ' favourer of the obnoxious tax.

The archbishop's head was stuck upon a long pole,

1375-81. an(^ ^h the nea(ls of those who had been decapitated
with him, was paraded through the , streets of London.
To distinguish the archbishop, his hat was nailed to his
skull. f It was at length fixed upon London Bridge1,
where it remained for six days. It was then taken down
by Sir William Walworth, according to the political song,
and reverently wrapped in a pall ; Wat Tyler's head being
afterwards substituted in its place.

The body remained for two days on Tower Hill, no one
daring to touch it during that time. The head anc.
body were conveyed to Canterbury,^ where they were
interred in the cathedral, § not far from the tomb of
Archbishop Elphege ; and miracles were said to be wrought
at his tomb, of which some account may be found in
Walsingham. Although Sudbury did not die for the
maintenance of any principle or the attestation of any
fact, yet, from the blamelessness of his life, and the heroic
piety with which he met his death, he seems to have been
looked upon by some as a martyr ; and lie was well
spoken of by all except the extreme Lollards. The poem
on his death is written in a strain of lamentation for his
loss.

Although this primate has left behind him no literary
work of magnitude, yet Tanner, who gives a list of his
writings (chiefly mandates, to be found in Wilkins, of

* William Apuldore, the king's confessor.

| " Insuper a lixis caput est in ponte levatum
Atque capellatum clavis in vertice fixis.
Walword tune miles caput abstulit inde patenter
In pallas habiles involvit idem reverenter." — Pol. Songs, i. 227.

J According to the poem, this took place six days after his death ;
his corpse was followed by some of the citizens of London.

§ Cum condigno honor e, Thorn, col. 2157.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 313

which copious use has been made in these pages), speaks
of him as a man of high literary attainments. Perhaps
his injunction for general public prayer on occasion of the
pestilence is the most interesting of his compositions.* 1375-81.

There is a fine canopied monument of Archbishop Sud-
bury still existing in Canterbury Cathedral, f

As a specimen of the literature of the period, I add the
following poem, which refers to the archbishop's death : —

Tax has tenet us alle,

Probat hoc mors tot validorum
The kyng thereof hade smalle,

Fuit in manibus cupidoi*um ;
Hit hade harde housalle,

Dans causam fine dolor um ;
Kevrawnce nede most falle,

Propter peccata malorum.

In Kent this kare began

Mox infestando potentes
In rowte the rybawdus ran,

Sua pompis anna ferentes ;
Foltis dred no mon,

Regni regem neque gentes,
Churles were hor chevetan,

Vulgo pure dominantes.

Thus hor wayes thay wente,

Pravis pravos cemulantes,
To London fro Kent

Sunt piwdia depopulantes ;
Ther was an uvel covent,

Australi parte vagantes ;
Sythenne they sone were schent,

Qui tune fuer ant superantes.

* Wilkins, iii. 100. f Wilks, 120.

314

LIVES OF THE

CflAP.
XV.

• 1 '

Simon
8udbury.
1375-81.

Bondus they blwim bost,

Nolentes lege domari,
Nede they fre be most,

Vel nollent pacificari ;
Charters were endost,

Nos libertate morari ;
Ther hor fredam thay lost,

Digni pro ccede negari.

Laddus loude thay loye,

Clamantes voce sonora,
The bisschop wen thay sloye,

Et corpora plura decora ;
Maners down thay drowye

In regno non meliora ;
Harme thay dud inoye,

Habuerunt libera lora.

Jak Strawe made yt stowte
In prof usa comitiva,

And seyd al schuld hem lowte
Anglorum corpora viva.

Sadly can they schowte
Pulsant pietatis oliva,

The wycche were wont to lowte,
Aratrum traducere otiva.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 315

CHAPTEE XVI.

WILLIAM COUETEXAT.*

Family of Courtenay. — Family of Bohun. — William Courtenay, son of
the Earl of Devon, born in the parish of St. Martin's, Exminster. —
Educated at Stapledon Hall, Oxford. — A Doctor Decretorum. —
Chancellor of the University. — Peculiar circumstances of his election.
— His preferments. — Bishop of Hereford in his 28th year. — State of
parties. — His conduct in convocation anti-papal. — Translated to
London. — Unjustifiable conduct towards the Florentines. — Violent
conduct of John of Gaunt. — Courtenay resents the insult offered
to William of Wykeham. — Courtenay prosecutes Wiclif. — Scene
between him and John of Gaunt in St. Paul's. — Disturbances in
London. — Courtenay's conduct with respect to Hawle. — Change of
views in Courtenay. — His translation to Canterbury — Receives
the cross from Canterbury, under protest. — Made Lord Chancellor.
— Opens Parliament. — Infamous conduct of Parliament.. — Courtenay
officiates at the marriage and coronation of the Queen. — Receives
the pall. — His proceedings against Wiclif. — Court of Inquiry at
Black Friars. — Earthquake. — Procession to St. Paul's. — Courte
nay's proceedings against Oxford. — He officiates at the King's second
coronation. — Visitation at Leicester. — His provincial visitation. —
Visitation of St. Augustine's, Bristol. — Opposedby the Bishops of Salis
bury and Exeter. — Constitution against Choppe Churches. — Schism
in the Church of Rome. — Boniface IX. acknowledged in England. —
Sale of indulgences. — Statutes of provisory renewed. — Unconstitu
tional conduct of Courtenay. — Jubilee. — Royal proclamation against
the jubilee. — Boniface IX. implores pecuniary assistance from the
clergy of the Church of England in vain. — The Archbishop censured
by the Government. — He makes a strong anti-papal protest in favour

* Authorities: — Walsingham; Pseudo-Knyghton; Fasciculi Zizanio-
rum; Dies Obituales Archiepisc. Cantuar. ; Political Songs; Lam
beth Register.

316 LIVES OF THE

of the liberties of the Church of England. — Provisions of the Act of
Prasmunire. — Difficulties at Canterbury and Romney. — Simple tastes
of Courtenay. — His benefactions.

To attempt a description of the family of Courtenay, after
viiiam ^1G splenc^d digression upon its fortunes, appended by
Courtenay. Gibbon to his sixty-first chapter, would be superfluous or
an impertinence. If from a regard to truth and time, we
are to give no credence to the grateful or venal monks cf
Ford, when they represent the Courtenays of Devonshire
as descended from Prince Florus, the second son of Peter,
and the grandson of Louis the Fat ; yet the concession, that
the fable was believed in the time of Edward III., is suffi
cient to account for the pride of birth which was imputed,
whether correctly or not, to the cadet of that family, who ,
in the fourteenth century, sat in the marble chair of Can
terbury, the successor of Augustine, or, as he preferred to
describe himself, of St. Thomas the Martyr.

In the stirring events of the Third Edward's reign, Hugh
Courtenay, Earl of Devon, took an active part ; and among
the first Knights of the Garter his name is enrolled. His
wife was Margaret, the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun,
Earl of Hereford ; and she was a granddaughter of Ed
ward I.

The founder of the family of Bohun in England was
Humphrey a of the Beard," who came over with William
the Conqueror. William de Bohun, the brother of Mar
garet, was created Earl of Northampton in 1337, when
the Black Prince was advanced to the dukedom of Corn
wall. Of Edward III. and his illustrious son he was the
constant companion ; and was in the second battalion of
the English army at the battle of Cressy. He was one
of the original Knights of the Garter.*

* The authority for these statements is Dugdale. The family of
Bohun has become extinct. That of Courtenay still exists. The pre
sent Earl of Devon is the thirty-first earl.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 317

The eldest son of Hugh Cotirtenay and of Margaret de CHAP.
Bohun was also named Hugh ; and, distinguishing himself, *
early in life, by his valour and martial spirit, he became, cwrtonay.
like his father, a Knight of the Garter, and participated in 1381-96-
the glories of Cressy. At the great tournament held at
Eltham, the king presented him with a hood of white
'cloth, embroidered with dancing men and buttoned with
large pearls. He married a daughter of Thomas Holland,
Earl of Kent, by J-skana his wife, commonly called the fair
maid of Kent, who was also a granddaughter of Edward I.
On the death of the Earl of Kent, she became the wife of
the Black Prince, and was mother of King Eichard II.

William, the fourth son of the Earl and Countess of
Devon,* was born in the parish of St. Martin's,f a suburb of
the city of Exeter, or Exminster, about the year 1342. He
was educated in his father's house, and was trained to the
knightly accomplishments of the age, until he was sent to
the University of Oxford. That attachment to their
county, and to all that pertains to it, by which Devonshire
men are to this hour distinguished, induced his parents
to select for his place of residence in the University a hall
lately founded by Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter ;
of whom, himself the son of a Devonshire knight, we have
had occasion already to speak. Young Courtenay was
sent to Stapledon Hall, " conveniently situated in St. Mil
dred's parish, under and against the north wall of the city,
that is to say, in the lane going from the place, where Turl or
Thorold Gate now is, to the north end of School Street. "J

* His mother, Margaret, bequeathed to the archbishop a gilt chalice
and a missal. Dugdale, 640. Testamenta Vetusta, i. 127.

t In his will, which is given in Somner, though not in the Testa
menta Vetusta, Archbishop Courtenay says, " Paroch. S. Martini ubi
natus fueram." I infer the date of his birth from a statement, probably
correct, in Le Neve, which represents the archbishop as 28 years old
in 1370.

J Wood, Colleges, 104.

318 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Thus minutely is described the situation of that hall
— ^r^—- which was father to Exeter College. Courtenay was
ourtenay. entered as the son of the Earl of Devonshire, and as
1381-96. descended from the royal blood of England. As a stu
dent William Courtenay was not distinguished ; for his
talents were such as qualified him for the active rather
than the contemplative life. Those talents soon displayed'
themselves when the student had become a graduate, and
evinced a readiness to take a conspicuous share in the
government of the University. His studies were directed
to law rather than to theology, and in law he graduated ;
but he did not practise in the courts. In one documem;
he is described as " Doctor Deere torum Oxonias." * In
13GT lie was elected chancellor of the University, under
peculiar circumstances. We have before had occasion,
more than once, to mention the disputes which, from time
to time, arose between the authorities of the University
and the Bishop of Lincoln, with reference to the right of
the diocesan to give or to withhold his license to the person
elected to the office of chancellor. The independence of
the University had now been asserted ; and it is especially
recorded that, in the case of Dr. Courtenay, he was " in
vited to take this office upon him in a full congregation
of regents and non-regents, on the Thursday next before
Pentecost. He was afterwards solemnly admitted without
any confirmation of the diocesan. f

The office of chancellor had now become, from an
increase of labour, an office of great dignity and import
ance. He was a magistrate, and required assistance in
the administration of justice ; his duties were multifarious,
and some of them must of necessity be performed by
deputies. These were appointed under various titles ;
sometimes they were called vicegerents, sometimes com-

* Fasc. Zizan. 28G. t Wood, Fasti, 28.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 319

missaries ; at last, they were vice-chancellors. They were CHAP.
called vice-chancellors even when the chancellors were • — -^—^

William

resident omcers. They corresponded to what are now courtenay.
called pro- vice- chancellors. The chancellor was, at this
time, surrounded with the apparatus of dignity. Six
beadles attended him when he appeared in public ; and a
verger carrying a silver staff preceded him, when he
entered the house of assembly, or appeared at church.

Just before he entered upon his office, a controversy
had taken place between the University and the mendi
cants ; or rather the University was constrained by the
Government to make concessions, which were very un
willingly yielded. The University was compelled to
annul all statutes which had been made to enforce con
formity upon the friars ; and the friars, on their part,
stipulated that they should not avail themselves of this
relaxation to obtain bulls from Borne, to the detriment of
the University or of any person dwelling in it. The king
reserved to himself and his council the power to reform
abuses, and to settle any differences that might arise
between the contending parties. Dr. Courtenay took
part with the University against the friars, and was sup
ported in his proceedings by Dr. Wiclif. On Courtenay 's
election to the chancellorship, in 1367, the friars were
violent in their indignation against him, and violated their
part of the compact by citing the chancellor of the Univer
sity to Borne. The king interposed, and prohibited the
citation, leaving Courtenay not a little exasperated against
the friars and the court of Borne.*

The powerful friends of Courtenay had not been un
mindful of his pecuniary interests ; and the Chancellor of
Oxford had, at an early period of life, been instituted to
prebends in the cathedrals of Exeter, Wells, and York.

* Par. 41, Edvv. III. 1. m. 13. Wood's Annals, 480.

320 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. In 1369, when he was in his twenty-eighth year, they
XVL . succeeded in obtaining for him the Bishopric of Hereford,
ourtena ^s defect m age was mac^e UP by a bull dated August 17,
1381-96. 13G9. It is not certain who officiated at his consecration.
But it appears from his register, that it took place on the
17th of March, and in London. It does not appear in
Whittlesey's register, so that he was most probably con
secrated by Sudbury, then Bishop of London, whom
Courtenay was destined to succeed, both in the see of
London and also in the metropolitan see. He commis
sioned his vicar-general on the 19th of March, 1370. E'e
was enthroned on the 5th of September, 1370.*

Courtenay, vehement and impetuous, with generous
impulses and a high spirit, popular in his manners and
energetic in all that he undertook, entered public life,
when party feeling ran high.

We need riot enter into a particular description of tha
state of parties, since this has been already done in tha
Life of Sudbury. We need only allude to the fact, that
two parties were now contending for power, not, as in
times past, in the field of battle, but in the two Houses of
Parliament ; and especially in the House of Commons,
which, through a happy combination of circumstances,
had now begun to assume that important position in the
constitution, which it never lost.

At the head of the one party was the Prince of Wales,
who had been drawn from his retirement by suspicion of
the ambitious designs of John of Gaunt, the Duke of
Lancaster. Whether John of Gaunt was really planning
to set aside the son of his elder brother, who had always
hitherto regarded him with particular affection, cannot
be known. It is only known, that he was endeavouring
to obtain power over the weakened mind of the king,

' These statements are made on the authority of Courtenay's
Register at Lambeth.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 321

now in premature dotage ; and that he was as rough, CHAP.
rude, and domineering, as his brother was affable, cour- • — ^— -
teous, and kind. The Duke of Lancaster had for his courtenay.
clerical adviser, Dr. John Wiclif, who was regarded at 1381-96-
this time not merely as a divine, but as a politician of
extreme opinions. The Prince of Wales had, for his
adviser, his father's old friend, William of Wykeham
Bishop of Winchester. William of Wykeham found in
Courtenay an enthusiastic supporter.

In this life, we have not to go far into political affairs,
for Courtenay did not take a prominent part, like some of
his predecessors, in the government of the country. It is
only necessary to remind the reader that in church
politics, there was an important distinction, which, though
often passed over, must be borne in mind, if we would do
justice to Courtenay's character.

The pope was at Avignon. The whole English nation
was therefore, on political grounds, anti-papal. Courtenay,
in the early part of his life, and the politicians on his
side, were more eager than their opponents to resist papal
aggression in all its shapes and forms. Some of the
strongest anti-papal measures were introduced by them in
" the good parliament." But they were equally zealous to
uphold the rights of the clergy of the Church of England.
" Defend us from the pope," they said, " if you wish us
to support you by our purses."

This was perfectly consistent with a deference to the
pope in things spiritual. As we have frequently remarked,
the question was as to rights of suzerainty. They did not
deny the superiority of the suzerain, when they resisted
the exercise of that authority on certain points. Hence
Courtenay was sometimes anti-papal, and at others un
duly subservient to the papacy.

John of Gaunt found the clergy of the Church of
England, as a body, determined to resist his ambitious

VOL. IV. Y

LIVES OF THE

CHAP, designs ; and against them he waged war. From party
_XAL^ feeling he would act, as Wiclif did from higher motives.
Courtenay ^e would drive the clergy from all secular offices and
1381-96. confine their labours to the discharge of their clerical
functions. John of Gaunt was prepared to side with the
pope, at this period, if only the pope would strengthen his
hands against the English clergy ; and the pope would
abet John of Gaunt, if he would force the clergy to con
tribute towards the replenishing of the papal as well as of
the national treasury.

We are thus able to understand how Courtenay ai d
John of Gaunt were vehemently opposed to each other, at
the commencement of Courtenay 's career. They were
neither of them men who acted upon any fixed political
principles. They were men of impulse, who acted only
as the exigencies of the time required, with a vie^v
to party purposes. When by circumstances the party
combinations, on either side, had been dissolved, they
came together and acted as friends. They showed, by their
so doing, that, in the early period of their career, part},
not principle, influenced Courtenay, and certain privatB
ends and objects John of Gaunt. We shall find them, at
different periods of life, each of them acting in unconsciou *
inconsistency ; and doing at one time what at another they
would have reprobated. It will be remembered, that it in
of political principle that we are speaking, and not o?
religious principle.

Another peculiarity in the career of Courtenay must be
noticed : his preferment to the see of Canterbury, when
that appointment he received, marked a new era. With
the exception of Boniface, the Archbishopric of Canterbury
had not been regarded as a provision for the aristocracy.
From the time of Langton, with this exception, it had
been not a dignity to be conferred, but an office to
which men were to rise. It had been held by men who

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 323

had previously been educated as lawyers, and who had CHAP.
distinguished themselves as statesmen. An eminent states- • — r^— -
man felt, that he had as much right to claim the archie- Courtenay.
piscopal mitre, if the see of Canterbury fell vacant when 1381-9G-
he was chancellor, as the attorney-general, at the present
time, would urge his claim to the chancellorship if, by any
good fortune, that office were vacant. In these days, it is
assumed that the person nominated to a bishopric is not
entirely ignorant of theology, or openly hostile to the
church. The assumption in the thirteenth century was, that
he was competent as a lawyer not less than as a divine.
Some exceptions were made, but these are to be accounted
for by circumstances. It was possible then, as now, for a
learned divine to be on the episcopal bench, as was the
case with Bradwardine ; but with the exception of Boni
face — a precedent to be avoided — no one had been
appointed to the primacy simply on the ground of his
being an aristocrat, or one who was nearly or remotely
connected with the royal family.

The preferments of Courtenay were viewed with
jealousy by the merely professional men. The lawyers
and older statesmen asked what the young man had done.
He had graduated as a lawyer at Oxford, but he had not
practised in the courts ; he was ordained, but lie was
unknown as a theologian. They did not begrudge him
the see of Hereford, but angry feelings were excited when
he was translated to London and Canterbury. On the
other hand, his appointments were viewed with great
satisfaction by the people in general. How violent was
the feeling against lawyers, we have seen in the life of
Sudbury. The fact that Courtenay was not a lawyer was,
among the mass of the people, a point in his favour, and
was one of his recommendations after Sudbury 's death.
The ancient nobility were in favour with the people,
whose hostility w^as directed against that new aristocracy,

Y 2

r—

324 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, which was springing up from among the citizens and bur-
gesses, and who were converting villeins into slaves. The
fact, therefore, that Courtenay belonged to an old family
8U96< secured for him the goodwill of a large portion of the
community ; but so happily was he circumstanced, that
his advancement was viewed with equal favour by the
new aristocracy. The laity had, up to a period not then
remote, confined themselves, in the upper classes, to mili
tary exercises, and to the art of war ; the middle class ss
to the pursuits of commerce ; leaving agriculture to the
lower orders and to the monks and clergy who, by the
skilful management of their estates, had become enor
mously rich. The laity had now, however, begun to turn
their minds to other subjects ; and, brought together by
parliament, they were tending to that division of labour
which is the foundation of various professions. They
were beginning to say, Let the clergy confine themselves
to theology, and it will be the better for religion ; let
law be a distinct profession, which the laity will no longer
despise ; let the lay nobles assume the direction of stato
affairs. A ne sutor ultra crepidam feeling was beginning
to prevail ; and these parties were pleased to see an
aristocrat advanced to the highest position in the church,
simply because they rejoiced to perceive that men o '
noble blood were beginning to feel, that there were other
sources of ambition opened to them besides those which
were offered in the battle field.

In these remarks we have anticipated our history,
although they are clearly necessary to render our history
intelligible.

Courtenay retained the see of Hereford for three years.
He did nothing to make his episcopate memorable ; but,
under William of Wykeham, he laboured diligently to
promote the interests of his party, and was diligent in his
attendance upon convocation. Here he acted as the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 325

leader in opposition to the government of the Duke of CHAP.
Lancaster. We have had occasion, in the life of Whittlesey,
to refer to that memorable debate in convocation, when
Bishop of Hereford stood forward as the champion of 1 381-96.
England against the pope.* He complained that the
English clergy were subjected to a double taxation : sub
sidies were required by the king, and subsidies were
required by the pope. He had conferred with the clergy
of his own diocese, and they agreed with him in a deter
mination not to contribute to the exigencies of the state,
unless the government would stipulate to protect them
from the exactions of the papal court.

In 1372, the Bishop of Hereford suffered a severe
domestic affliction in the death of his cousin, the Earl of
Northampton ; but he had by this time established a posi
tion in the country for himself, and continued in favour with
the Prince of Wales. The prince's party was in the ascend
ant, when the see of Canterbury fell vacant by the death
of Archbishop Whittlesey in 1374 ; and when it was
proposed that Sudbury should be translated from London
to Canterbury, the proposal was at once accepted. For the
party perceived the importance of securing London to their
side, by providing that see with a prelate, whose high birth
rendered it easy to conciliate the commercial men anxious
to establish an interest at court, and whose popular manners
formed a favourable contrast to those of Sudbury.

To the see of London Courtenay was translated in the year
1375 ; and he was soon after nominated one of the Council
of Eegency, if we may so style the committee, appointed
by the " good parliament," to advise King Edward III.

Bishop Courtenay was indefatigable in his endeavours
to obtain the confidence and goodwill of the Londoners ;
and sometimes, for this purpose, he had recourse to very

* See p. 239 of this volume, where is also given the remonstrance of
the good parliament against the pope.

326 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, reprehensible means and measures. Such was his con-
« — -^— duct with reference to the Florentines. The pope had
Conrtenay. excommunicated the Florentines ; and, as the banking
1381-96. business was, in most countries, conducted by them, he
directed that the bull should be published in every
kingdom, and that, on the publication of it, their effects
should be sold. Any country was to be placed under an
interdict which should prohibit the publication. On the
other hand, the prelate who should dare to publish the
bull in England, would incur the penalties of a prsemunire.
These penalties Courtenay determined to risk, trusting to
his position in the government for protection. To tic
great delight of the populace, the bull was published {it
Paul's Cross ; and they proceeded forthwith to plunder the
houses of the excommunicated Florentines. But the
bishop had here overshot his mark. The merchants of
London would not tolerate such an act of spoliation, or
allow such a. precedent to be established. The lord
mayor came forward for the protection of the persecuted
Florentines ; and the Bishop of London was summoned
before the Court of Chancery, to account for his illegal
conduct. He had nothing to plead but the papal man
date ; and on his pleading this, he was referred to the
statute of praemunire, and was warned that, unless he
withdrew the plea, all his property would be forfeited tc
the crown, and he himself be placed out of the protection
of the law. He was commanded to cancel the publication
of the bull, and to revoke certain words relating to an
interdict, which, on its publication, he had uttered at
Paul's Cross, and which were supposed to derogate
from the supremacy of the crown. The bishop, with
great difficulty, obtained permission to do this by deputy ;
and one of his officials, mounting the pulpit, declared that
the bishop had been misunderstood, and that he had made
no allusion to an interdict. He expressed his surprise,

AKCIIBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 327

that persons so accustomed to hear sermons from that pul- CHAP.
pit should have so entirely misapprehended their bishop.
The death of the Prince of Wales, which occurred soon
after the translation of Courtenay to the see of London,
changed the whole aspect of affairs. John of Gaunt
naturally assumed the direction of the royal family ; and
was perfectly aware, that the king required to be managed,
not controlled. Edward III. seems to have suffered from
what now would be called a softening of the brain. No
one knew when he would, in his imbecility, permit himself
to be led, or when the expiring fire of the Plantagenet
would emit a hasty flame. The people watched jealously
over their dying hero ; and the whole case required deli
cate treatment. Alice Ferrers was, in consequence, re
called. The Black Prince could supersede her but no
one else. She ruled the king and was herself ruled by
John of Gaunt ; who, in the triumph of his party, lost all
sense of moderation and gave full play to his malignant
passions. He defied public opinion, and public opinion
attributed to him ulterior designs of a treasonable cha
racter. He purchased the support of Lord Percy, who
had heretofore adhered to the opposite party, by con
ferring upon him the office of Earl Marshal ; an office
which the Earl of March had been compelled to resign.
He sent the loader of the House of Commons, Peter de la
Mare, a prisoner to Nottingham Castle. This circumstance
tended to confirm the suspicion of ulterior designs of the
Duke of Lancaster upon the throne ; for Peter de la Mare
was regarded as the representative of the heir presumptive.
John of Gaunt attacked the venerable Bishop of Win
chester, William of Wykeham ; and seizing his temporal
ities declared them forfeit to the crown. The king's
council was dissolved. The King of Castile was the
dictator of England. Never was there a more complete
sweep, and a coup d 'etat would have certainly ensued, if

328 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. John of Gaunt had possessed either a standing army, or

-XVL - the affections of the people.

om-tena1 ^G knew ^s unpopularity ; and instead of seeking to

1381-96. obtain the popular favour he had lost, he chafed under
the hatred which he had incurred, and raved against all,
who dared to oppose his will.

In the meantime, Courtenay a man of the highest rank
had lived among the Londoners, and by the courtesy of
his manners, more than by any special acts of munificence;,
had endeared himself to them. His predecessor Sudbury
had been non-resident, and though the more munificent
of the two, failed to obtain the good- will of the people.
The hearts of men are more easily won by personal kind
ness than by substantial benefits.

The Bishop of London was justly indignant when lie-
heard that, at the meeting of parliament, no writ of sum
mons had been issued to the Bishop of Winchester ; but
his anger knew no bounds when he found that Archbishop
Sudbury, a partisan of the Duke of Lancaster, had ne
glected to send the venerable prelate a summons to attend
the Convocation, which met on the 3rd of February. Of
the determination and vigour displayed by the Bishop of
London, on this occasion, we have already said something
in the life of Archbishop Sudbury. The convocation had
been summoned to vote a subsidy to the government. The
Bishop of London had prepared himself, and produced
several rolls of parchment, in which were narrated the in
juries inflicted by the government upon the friend of the
Black Prince and the former minister of the insulted king.
He eloquently pleaded in behalf of one of the most dis
tinguished statesmen of the day, who, without a trial, had
been condemned ; and he adjured his brethren to refuse a
subsidy until satisfaction had been rendered to the injured
prelate. We need not refer again to the enthusiastic
response returned to this appeal ; or state how the reluct-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 329

ant primate was compelled to yield to the inflexible CHAR
convocation ; in which, ere February was over, the Bishop ^-r— -

William

of Winchester had resumed his seat. Courtenay.

This was a decided party triumph, and the Duke of
Lancaster was enraged by the opposition thus headed by
the bishop. Although the duke's temper was ungovern
able in its first outbreak, he was able, after a time, to
control his feelings, and to act with some discretion. He
was aware of the increasing popularity of Dr. John
Wiclif, and that he had a strong party within the city.
He sent for Wiclif, and, knowing his hostility to the clergy,
determined to produce him as the opponent of Courtenay.
It was a wise measure.

Courtenay, however, was undaunted. He was equal to
the crisis. He knew Wiclif to be, though full of moral
courage, yet a man physically timid. Wriclif, as an inmate
of the duke's family, had placed himself within the juris
diction of the bishop of London. The bishop was aware,
that a charge of heresy — that charge so easily made and so
difficult to establish — had been brought against the great
Oxford doctor. He determined, therefore, to disqualify
him at once from taking part in public affairs, by placing
him upon his trial, and by obtaining, if possible, a verdict
against him. Although the archbishop belonged to the
opposite party, yet, when once the charge was made by
the diocesan, the metropolitan could not refuse to cite the
accused before a court of enquiry. The Bishop of London
cited Wiclif to appear before the metropolitan in St.
Paul's Cathedral, on the Thursday before the feast of St.
Peter's Chair, the 19th of February 1377.

Courtenay was no theologian ; he had not graduated
in divinity. He cared at this time little for heresy,
strictly so called. But some of the opinions propagated
by Wiclif, in defending the policy of his patron, the Duke
of Lancaster, were so ultra-radical, if we may use a

330 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, modern expression to describe an ancient fact, so subver-
7^— sive, apparently, of the framework of society, that, by a

ourtenay. construction, not at that period very forced, they might
96' easily be placed in the category of heresies, and justify
the arraignment of the propagator of them as a heretic.
How entirely the meaning of this prosecution was poli
tical, observes a writer, perhaps the best qualified among
our contemporaries to give an opinion on the subject,*
may be gathered from the total omission in the articles of
accusation of all matters not bearing upon the question of
the hour. The object of the prosecution was to proclaim
to the world, that society was endangered by the political
principles that John of Gaunt was putting in practice
against the Church. On the day appointed, the Lady
Chapel of St. Paul's Cathedral was filled at an early hour
by " dukes and barons," by all of the lay peerage who
were on Courtenay's side. Many prelates had assembled,
and they had transacted some preliminary business, when
great shouting was heard from without ; and a tumult was
occasioned at the west end of the cathedral, a perfect mol
having poured in through the side doors in a state ol'
great excitement. Upon enquiry, the Bishop of London
was informed that Dr. John had arrived, attended by the
Duke of Lancaster and Lord Percy, the newly-elected
Earl Marshal of England.

The intention of the duke .and of the earl marshal to
attend on this occasion had not been notified to the civic
authorities, and no extra precautions had been taken to
preserve the public peace. Under these circumstances,
the earl marshal had directed his men to act as a police ;
a measure which had excited the indignation of the Lon
doners. They regarded his conduct as a violation of their
charters, and as an insult offered to their chief magistrate.

* Canon Shirley. Fasciculi Zizaniorum, xxvii.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 331

They crowded into the church, determined to support CHAP.
and protect the bishop. The crowd in the nave and — ^—
aisles was so great, that it was with difficulty the ducal courtenay
party made their way towards the Lady Chapel. Percy 1381-9G-
ordered his men roughly to force a passage. What right,
however, had the earl marshal to issue orders within the
precincts of the bishop of London's cathedral ? Courtenay
remonstrated, and told him that if he had foreknown
what his conduct would have been, and how, as earl mar
shal, he would have assumed the mastery there, he would
have inhibited his entrance into the church.

The duke, already enraged by the reception he met
with in the city, was unable to restrain himself, and inso
lently called out, that the lord marshal should play the
master there, whether the bishop should say nay or
not.

Arrived at the Lady Chapel, the duke and the earl
were accommodated with seats ; and Wiclif stood in front
of the assembled prelates, attended, to the astonishment
of the bystanders, by four friars prepared to act as his
counsel. The earl marshal again took it upon himself to
give orders in the ecclesiastical court, and ordered a seat
to be provided for Dr. Wiclif, observing sarcastically,
that, considering the many questions which would be put
to him, a soft seat he would need.

This was conduct that »o court, civil or ecclesiastical,
could tolerate. But Courtenay preserved his temper, and
merely directed that no seat should be provided, observing
that it was contrary to law and to reason, that a clerk,
cited before his ordinary, should be seated during his
trial. A discussion followed which was interrupted by
the duke, red with rage. He vowed that he would bring
down the pride of all the prelacy of England ; " and as
for thee," he said, pointing to the bishop of London,
" thou bearest thyself so brag upon thy parentage, but

332 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, they shall not be able to help thee ; no, I will take care

-^— that they shall have enough to help themselves."*
Comtenay. There was dignity in the bishop's reply : — " My confi-
9G- clence is not in nay parents, nor in man, but in God, and
God only. By His assistance I shall be bold to speak as
I ought to speak, and to maintain the truth."

The calmness of an opponent only adds fuel to the fire
which consumes an angry man's breast ; and the duke
was heard to mutter between his teeth, — he intended,
indeed, that his words should be heard, — that rather than
tolerate such words from the bishop, he would drag him
out of the church by the hair of his head. Had thoee
around him given him the slightest encouragement,
doubtless he would have made the attempt. But he soo i
discovered that his escort was barely sufficient to procur3
for him and the earl marshal a safe retreat to the Savoy
Palace, which was his London home.f

* "Erubuit dux quod nonpotuit prarvalere litigio," which Foxe under -
stands of his blushing for shame, because in the act of brawling anc
railing he could not excel the bishop ; though the bishop, according tc
the statements of his enemies, kept his temper marvellously well.

•f Modern writers — Fuller, Collier, Vaughan, Le Bas — follow Foxe in
describing this scene. Foxe quotes as his authority a chronicler, D. Albani,
which his editor says is nowhere to be discovered, but which I find to be
in the possession of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the Archa3ologia,
however, vol. xxii., is published an historical relation of certain passages
about the end of Edward III., and of his death, from the Harleian MS.,
0217, which is supposed to have beeli a translation of Foxe's manu
script. See note to Seely's Foxe, ii. pt. 2. Walsingham, 192, speaks
of the " verbum quoddam injuriosum et insolens a duce Lancastrian,
Episcopo Londinensi prolatum." Foxe would not have produced the
passage if it had not, in his opinion, tended to the honour of Wiclif. It
is pleasant to find Milner saying, that it would have given him real
pleasure if he could have discovered any proof that Wiclif protested
against the insolent and disorderly behaviour of his patrons, adding
that the deportment of the archbishop and bishop seems to have been
more unexceptional than that of Wiclif and his friends. May we not,
however, interpret Wiclif 's silence as a censure upon his friends? They
must have acted in some measure without his connivance. We can

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 333

If there be truth in the old saying with reference to CHAP.
early rising, our ancestors in the fourteenth century
must have been healthy, and wealthy and wise. The
meeting was dissolved at nine o'clock in the morning, and 1381-
the bishop of London returned to his home, having in
point of fact effected his purpose. By the intemperate
conduct of the duke and of lord Percy, that party had
suffered a signal defeat ; and Wiclif had received a signifi
cant hint not again to concern himself in party politics.
All this the bishop had accomplished without having
been compelled to substantiate his charges against Wiclif,
He had triumphed as a politician without being obliged
to take the unpopular side as a theologian. He does not
appear to have attended the parliament which was sitting
at this time ; or he could not have been taken by surprise
at what soon after occurred.

As soon as the council had broken up, the duke and
the earl marshal, almost demented by their rage, had
gone to the parliament ; and there they proposed a
petition, or as we should now say, introduced a bill, pray
ing the king to disfranchise the city of London — to cancel
its charter, and to abolish the office of mayor. They
proposed to place the city under the command of a
custos,* to be nominated by the crown ; and, at the same
time, to vest in the earl marshal, all that related to the
preservation of order and the arrest of offenders.

The tyrannical and revolutionary proposals of the
duke, were soon known in the city, through John Philpot,
one of the representatives sitting for London, by whom
the suggested measure had been strongly opposed. f

hardly suppose that he would himself have selected four friars for his
counsel.

* He is so called in the Harleian MS., though in some histories he
is styled captain.

f In Maitland's Hist, of London, the name of Philpot occurs as M.P.
in 1377, 1381, 1383.

334 LIVES OP THE

CHAP. The next day the citizens assembled in crowds, to
l^_-_ ^ decide on the proper course to be taken for the main-

\\T "11"

ourtena, teiiaiice of their rights, thus grossly invaded.

1381-96. rj^ bishop^ of whose support the citizens were secure,
took no part in these meetings or debates. At first, the re
was no ground for alarm. The citizens appeared de
termined to maintain the law, but it was not supposed
that they would take the law into their own hands, or
proceed to acts of violence.

The episcopal palace was a place of considerable
strength ; but it was at this time more than usual, y
strong, for that the bishop himself lived in the affections
of the people. The ordinary routine was observed, and
at the usual hour the large family of the bishop, chaplain?,
knights, clerks, and retainers assembled in the vast anil
lofty hall. It was a gloomy prison-like apartment scantily
furnished. It was lighted by two large windows high i i
the wall and looking into the inner court. In the centr 3
stood a long table on tressels, and beneath was a plentiful
supply of fresh straw. Along the table were forms until
the dais was reached. On the dais stools were arranged,
and in the centre for the bishop a straight-backed wooder.
seated arm-chair. Every thing, even to the placing o '
the dishes on the table, was done with precise order and
much ceremony. In grandeur our ancestors excelled us ;
but they were deficient in all that related to comfort.
There was a hatch on either side of the door, and near
it a large cupboard or buffet, on which were arranged
dishes of earthenware and brass, with a few of silver for
the high table ; silver goblets being intermixed with cups
of horn, a few drinking glasses, jorums, and jacks. The
servitors at the hatch were busy, though not as active
and joyous as at other times. The season was that of
Lent. This made, however, no diminution in the number
of dishes ; it rather tended to increase their number, for

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 335

though fish was the only food, yet the fish was dressed in .CHAP.

• , c XVI.

a great variety or ways. -— — ,- —
The bishop had scarcely taken his seat, when infor-

mation was brought him of a tendency to insubordination 1381-96-
on the part of the populace. It had been reported that
the earl marshal had already commenced his new duties,
and had actually imprisoned a Londoner. The populace
had attacked Lord Percy's house ; had broken through
the gates ; had released the prisoner ; and had made a
bonfire of the stocks, to which they had found him bound.
Armed with bills and javelins they had searched the
house, vowing death to Lord Percy himself.

The bishop was aware, that Lord Percy with the Duke
of Lancaster, who had a party, though a small one, in the
city, was at a feast given by a Londoner named John
Yper ; and, as his person was safe, the bishop did not
think it necessary to interfere.

A messenger, however, soon after arrived, stating that
the house of John Yper had been attacked. The bishop,
remembering the insolence of the duke in the cathedral,
could not forbear from smiling, when he was told that
the duke was just on the point of swallowing an oyster, to
whet his appetite for dinner, when the mob succeeded in
breaking through the gates of the house ; and that, in his
eagerness to escape their vengeance, the royal duke had
tumbled over one of the forms and had broken both his
shins. It was with difficulty that he and Lord Percy reached
the river, where they took boat. Their destination was
not known. .It was afterwards discovered that they had

•Qnnin

gone to Kingston, where the Princess of Wales resided
witli her son ; that is to say, they sought protection from
the opposite party. But the Londoners supposed that
they had gone to the duke's palace in the Savoy, and
thither they proceeded, determining to deal with the duke
as they had dealt with the earl marshal. The bishop of

336 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. London now thought it time to interfere ; and he lost not
— ' a moment in hurrying to the ducal palace, to save it, if

ourtenay. possible, from destruction. He arrived only just ^in time.
96< The infuriated mob had made their attack. They received
the bishop with cheers. He waved his hand, and asked
them to hear him. Silence being obtained, he reminded
them that it was a sacred season — Lent. He entreated
them for the love of God, and for their own souls'
sake, not to desecrate the season by performing, in the
mass, what not one of them would dare, separately, to
attempt.* The people at length were pacified. They did
not burn down the palace. But they reversed the duke's
arms in the chapel, as those of a traitor ; and this harm
less piece of vengeance was repeated in various parts of
the town. This reversal of his arms was peculiarly offe i-
sive to the duke, and as the bishop did not interfere i;o
prevent this personal insult to his adversary, any obliga
tion under which he may have placed the duke ty
preserving his palace from destruction, was cancelled.
There was certainly no immediate sign of any goodwill
on either side. In the life of Sudbury, mention has bee i
made of the assassination of Haule by certain partisans
of John of Gaunt, and the daring violation of the rights
of sanctuary of which the murderers had been guilty.
The bishop of London made political capital out of tho
transaction, and having forced the reluctant primate to
pronounce sentence of excommunication against th<;
murderers and their abettors, he repeated the anathenm

* The words of Walsingliam show how much influence the bishoj
possessed over the minds of the people : " Episcopusne hoc fieret om-
nino prokibuit, et nisi tune Episcopus se opposuisset eormn conatibus.
hospitium dicti ducis de Savoy eo furoris sui tempore combussissent qui
vix ab illo proposito Antistitis interventu refra3nati sunt. Tandem ad
nutum Pontificis quieverunt." The contrast between the popularity oi
Courtenay and unpopularity of Sudbury is to be remarked — the one
was a lawyer, the other a statesman.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 337

every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday at St. Paul's, and CHAP.
in sermons denounced all who had abetted the deed. ^ ^ , '.^
The Londoners were much excited on the subject, and Courtenay.
their bishop condescended to enact the part of demagogue. 1381~96-
Who was the chief abettor, or who was the person chiefly
to be benefited by the murder, was known or surmised
by all.

John of Gaunt was, at this time, with the court at
Windsor, and he easily prevailed upon the council to
issue a command that the bishop should cease from
fulminations, the object of which was too apparent. To
this mandate the bishop gave no heed, and the fury of
the duke knew no bounds. He vowed that, if he could
only obtain the king's permission, he would ride to
London, and in spite of ribald Londoners, would drag
the contumacious prelate by his beard before the board.
He might utter the threat with impunity, for the king's
consent implied the consent of the council, and a majority
in the council the duke could not, at that time, command.

The Bishop of London was appointed with the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, a delegate of the pope, to examine
Dr. Wiclif on the subject of certain charges brought
against him, on some abstruse theological questions. Both
prelates were reluctant to act on this occasion, and con
nived at the interference of the government in causing
the proceedings to be suspended. We may, at least, infer
this from the fact that, on the accession of Eichard II.,
bishop Courtenay had been appointed one of the Council
of Eegency.

From the accession of Eichard II. the strong party feel
ing, on the part of Courtenay, began to subside. During
the three years preceding the insurrection of Wat Tyler
we hear very little of the bishop of London or of his pro
ceedings. He was present at the parliament of Gloucester,

VOL. iv. z

338 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, but lie did not take an active part in the debates. A con-
- XVL - siderable change took place, during this period, in his
Cour/eiTy. views, if not in his character. The son of the Black
1381-96. prjnce being safely on the throne, there was no longer
ground for suspicion against the Duke of Lancaster on
the one side ; and on the other side, the duke having
failed in his designs upon the crown, if ever he entertained
them, was more inclined to conciliate than to exasperate
the clergy, in whom he had seen his chief obstacle. His
great object was to advance the interests and secure
the legitimation of his children by Catherine Swinforcl ;
and he saw the importance of establishing friendly rela
tions with the clergy. When the theology of Wiclif inter
fered with the politics of the duke, from the ducal palace
Wiclif was dismissed; and in the course of a few yeais
the Duke of Lancaster and Archbishop Courtenay wer j
able to live together, if not in intimacy, yet in peace.

Courtenay's intercourse with Borne became also mor3
friendly ; and he was less inclined to act the part of
demagogue, as republican principles began to display
themselves in Wiclif, and more particularly in his fol
lowers. But it is impossible to account for the condue;
of a man, who, as we have said, acted from impulse rather
than from principle ; and, though generally with caution
yet only with a view to immediate results.

On the death of the unfortunate Sudbury, the eyes of
the whole nation were fixed upon Courtenay as his suc
cessor. Courtenay did not, perhaps, deserve all his popu
larity, and Sudbury certainly did not merit the odium
with which he had been regarded ; but the fact was that
a popular successor to the murdered primate was required;
and a name more popular than that of Courtenay, with
the class most opposed to Sudbury, could not be found.
The Chapter of Canterbury were as eager to postulate his
translation, as the government to recommend him to their

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 339

notice in the conge d'elire freely granted to them by the CHAP.

1 • .A. V .L.

king. ' — -r — -

Courtenay was placed under rather difficult circum- cJourtenay.
stances, and extricated himself with considerable ability 1381~96-
and skill Notwithstanding the Statute of Provisors, the
opinion very generally prevailed, and was hardly denied
by the government, that the pope had supreme power in
what related to translations ; the chapter might elect, but
he only could sanction the divorce of a bishop from the
see to which, in his consecration, he had been wedded.
But this opinion was not undisputed, and the party which
was inclined to dispute it was the party to which Courte
nay had hitherto belonged. There was a delay in the
bulls from Rome, and the pall was not sent. If the pope
were to withhold the pall; then, according to the principles
then in vogue, Courtenay, though Archbishop of Can
terbury, would have no authority to discharge the pecu
liar functions of a metropolitan. The delay in granting
the pall was occasioned, probably, by a difficulty en
countered by the papal lawyers in regard to the form
in which the oath of fealty should be administered.
There were two popes in existence, and the object was to
bind the archbishop to an allegiance to Urban, to the
exclusion of Clement.* But Courtenay, not knowing the
cause of the delay, thought it expedient to act with
extreme caution. In the meantime, on the ground of
the election accepted by the king, Courtenay had done
homage, and had received the temporalities of the see.
A deputation from the chapter waited upon him in Lon
don, to present him with the archiepiscopal cross, — a
ceremonial of which we have previously given a description.
The archbishop received the prior and the monks who
attended him, on the 12th of January, with great state, in

* The form of oatli finally agreed upon may be found in Wilkins,
iii. 154.

z 2

340 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the chapel at Lambeth, though he had not as yet taken

,_XTL „ up his residence in that manor. On delivering the cross,

oiirten^y. tne P™1 s^ : — " Reverend Father, I come an ambassador

1381-96. from the King of kings, who enjoins thee to undertake

the government of His church of Canterbury, to love it

and to protect it. I here present thee with the standard of

the King of kings, to be borne by thee and before thee."

The archbishop received the cross, but, his legal know
ledge not being much deeper than his theological, be
raised the question, whether it ought to be carried erect
before him antecedently to his reception of the pall. The
prior, very properly referring to the principles of common
law, remarked that all such objections were overruled by
the customs of the church of Canterbury. As the arch
bishop was required to officiate almost immediately at the
marriage and coronation of the queen consort, and as it
was necessary that he should appear in all his state and
dignity on the occasion, he thought it expedient to follow
the advice of the prior ; but he did so, under protest, tha :
he had no intention of acting in contempt of the court o '
Rome.

Soon after receiving the royal assent to his election
Courtenay accepted the great seal.* He only held the
office of chancellor for about three months, and probably
accepted it merely for the convenience of the government,
until some final arrangements could be made. It is to be
remarked, that the young king had succeeded in the good
work of promoting peace among those of his relations and
friends who had been political opponents, or who had
been engaged in personal disputes. The Duke of Lancas
ter was present, as a consenting party, when the great
seal was confided to Courtenay, and their enmity from
tli at time ceased. The Duke of Lancaster gave up the

* Rot, Glaus. 5 Ric. II. in. 25.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 341

cause of Wiclif, and the archbishop was prepared to CHAP.
resign the great seal to Sir Eichard le Scrope, a friend of
the duke, at that time abroad.

The archbishop, as chancellor, opened the parliament 1381~96-
which met on the 4th of November 1381, with a sermon
or speech dwelling upon mere generalities. The real
business of the session was stated by Sir Hugh Segrave,
in the House of Commons.* Sir Hugh, as lord high
treasurer, speaking by the king's command, informed the
commons that the chief cause of their summons was to
protect the liberties of the Church of England against the
pope, and to provide for the maintenance of peace ;
especially by punishing the authors of the late horrible
tumults and rebellion made against the king, who had
been forced by the rebels to grant charters of liberty and
manumission to men who were only bond-tenants and
villeins of the realm. The king, lie said, knowing that
what he had done was illegal, desired his parliament to
provide a remedy, and to devise measures for revoking
the charters. He lastly asked for money, which the king
required to maintain the dignity of his court and to carry
on the war.

In other words, the commons — in whose house the bold
peasantry of England, the men to whom the country was
indebted for the glories of Cressy and Poictiers had no
representatives — were convened to sanction the vilest
act of perjury of which ever king was guilty. They were
to authorise the king to violate the solemn pledges he
had given to an oppressed portion of his people.

To this proposal of the House of Commons, — the upper
house gave their consent. It was indeed to pacify the
middle classes, that this hecatomb of the working classes
was offered. Lords and commons agreed, that all grants

* An account of this scandalous parliament is given in Brady and
the Parliamentary History.

342 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of liberties and manumissions to the said villeins and bond
^_ tenants, obtained by force were in disinherison of them,

oen™y. tne ^lor^s an(l commons, and were therefore null and
1381-96. void.* The king appeared before his people a liar. A
king on whose word no reliance can be placed, must
expect to lose his life, if ever there be a successful insur
rection. I wish we could prove that Courtenay hs.d
expressed dissatisfaction at this infamous transaction.
While the parliament was sitting, the news arrived, that
the Lady Anne of Bohemia, the future Queen of England,
had arrived at Dover. Her arrival was an occasion of
much rejoicing, for a French fleet had been, for • some
time, cruising in the channel with the avowed purpos3
of capturing the princess, and so of preventing tha
marriage. The archbishop hastened to Canterbury, to b 3
among the first to offer his congratulations to the princess ,
and to bestow upon her the benediction of his church.
He placed his palace at her disposal She was received
by the Earl of Buckinghamshire at Canterbury, witl
great ceremony, and was by him escorted to London.

The archbishop officiated at the marriage of the royai
couple which took place on the 20th day after Christmas.

* The following is the form in which the manumissions were
granted : " Richardus, Dei Gratia, Rex Angliae et Francise, et Dominus
Hiberniffl : omnibus ballivis, et fidelibus suis, ad quos praesentes literse
pervenerint salutcm. Sciatis quod de gratia nostra speciali manumisi-
mus uni versos ligeos, et singulos subditos nostros ac alios, comitatus
Hertfordiae, et ipsos et eorum quemlibet ab omni bondagio exuimus et
quietos faciinus per pra?sentes, ac etiain pardonamus eisdem ligeis ac
subditis nostris, omnimodas felonias, proditiones, transgressiones, et ex-
tortiones, per ipsos vel aliquem eorum qualitercunque factas sive per-
petratas, ac etiani utlagariam, et utlagarias, si qua vel quae in ipsos, vel
aliquem ipsorum fuerit vel fuerint hiis occasionibus promulgate vel
promulgates, et summam pacem nostram eis et eorum cuilibet inde con-
cedimus.

u In cujus rei testimonium, has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes.
Teste meipso apud London, 15 die Junii. Anno Regni nostri quarto."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 343

in St. Stephen's Chapel, so long used in aftertimes as the CHAP.
House of Commons. It was fitted up with great splen-
dour for the occasion. Soon after the marriage, the young
queen was anointed and crowned by the archbishop in 1381-96-
Westminster Abbey. She now earned for herself that
high title, which she never forfeited, of "good Queen
Anne," by putting an end to the legal butchery which
under Tressilian had been going on against the late in
surrectionists. She asked for and obtained a general
amnesty.

Nothing could have- exceeded the barbarity and cruelty
with which execution had been done on the unfortunate
working classes, who had only risen to assert their just
rights, but were ruined by having an incompetent leader ;
when the upper and middle classes regained their ascend
ency, and could bring down an armed force upon them.
The legal murders of Tressilian exceeded those of Judge
Jeffreys ; and he deserves as much the execration of
mankind. Let us be permitted to hope, that the foreign
princess had been prompted, in her benevolence, by the
archbishop, whose sympathies had certainly been hitherto
evinced towards the lower orders, and who never lost his
popularity among them.

Immediately after the royal nuptials, the archbishop
despatched Sir Thomas Cherry to the papal court for the
pall. He received it with great ceremony at his manor
of Croydon, from the hands of the Bishop of London, on
the 6th of May, 1382.*

What remains to be told of Courtenay's history, may
be divided into two sections. We will give an account of
his proceedings against Wiclif and the Wiclifites ; and
then advert to other measures which he adopted for the
government of his province.

* Stubbs, 140.

344 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. I. That Wiclif and his immediate followers were not
« — ^— < concerned in the late insurrection will be readily admitted
Courtenay. by every impartial student of history : as readily, how-
1381-96. ever? win ]ie admit that among Wiclif s contemporaries,
especially among those who were opposed to his principlas,
it was natural to suspect that the movement was insti
gated by him. The reader of history will not be surprised
to find that a large portion of the thinking men in this
country traced the prevalent feeling of discontent and in
subordination to the extreme and revolutionary principle s,
which Wiclif had maintained and propagated. Even many,
who had employed him for political and party purposes,
had, since the insurrection, become alarmed. Treason had
long been regarded as heresy, and heresy as treason ; and
the distinction between the two offences had not yet bee a
made. The anti-papal feeling, strong as it was while the
popes were at Avignon, was a political not a religious feel
ing ; and when, after the warning given by the insurrec
tion, men heard, that Wiclif was still propounding strango
doctrines at Oxford, the whole conservative party, then, a .*
always, a large party, were heard to ask what are the;
bishops doing. We are able easily to understand, how
the bishops were called upon to act despotically by the
very men, who, in their own case, would have resented
any undue exercise of ecclesiastical power. There were
few among the bishops, at that time, who were theo
logians. They took little interest in the discussions to
which the theological writings of Wiclif had given rise,
so long as these discussions were confined to the schools,
and no appeal was made to the passions of the ignorant.
But the alarm had now spread to Oxford itself.

Wiclif had long been feared or valued as a radical
reformer in things civil and ecclesiastical ; he was now
attacking the dogmas of the Church. He discoursed on
the Eucharist ; he assailed the doctrine of transubstan-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 345

tiation ; he advanced a doctrine very similar to that at CHAP.
the present time maintained in the formularies of the ^J_Y_L^
existing Church of England. From the days of Pas- couitenay.
chaseus Kadbert, the author of the dogma of transubstan- 1381-9G-
tiation in its present form, it had found opponents among
learned men : such as Bertram, Johannes Scotus, Beren-
garius and others. But Wiclif was in a different position,
since the dogma had been accepted by a Lateran council,
as a dogma of the Western Church, in the time of
Innocent III. ; and the Church of England had not at this
time renounced it. Nevertheless, Wiclif would have been
permitted, as a schoolman, to have disputed and discussed
these and other points, if he had not been also a busy
politician, and if the times had not been times of com-
motion and disturbance. The alarmist party at Oxford, not
only opposed him, but drove him from the University to
his living. A reaction, however, took place ; new officers,
favourable to Wiclif, were elected. Wiclif himself was
recalled ; and he appealed from the University to the
king and parliament.

The opponents of Wiclif now accused him and certain
of his adherents of heresy to the archbishop. That the
archbishop was unwilling to act is clear, from the attacks
made upon him for his lukewarmness ; and from the
further fact, that the Duke of Lancaster, now reconciled
to the primate, took a journey to Oxford to persuade
Wiclif to desist from the course of conduct which he was
pursuing. Both the primate and the duke took the
common view of the subject : " Such," they said, " is the
dogma of the Church ; as a dutiful son of the Church,
accept it :" just as they would have said, " Such is the law
of the country, obey it." When Wiclif refused to act
upon the duke's advice, the duke said, " Then you must
take the consequences of your obstinacy." The arch
bishop had no option but to prosecute.

346

LIVES OF THE

CHAP.
XVI.

The course pursued by Courtenay was judicious, and
perfectly analogous to proceedings which have occurred in
our own time. He directed, that certain conclusions
from the writings of Wiclif should be transcribed and
laid before him. He then, instead of deciding upon their
character himself, formed a committee of learned men, and
demanded of them, that they should state how far they
were erroneous and how far heretical. It was affirmed
and not denied that Wiclif made, and that the parties
accused accepted, the following assertions :

I. That the substance of material bread and wine remains
after consecration in the Sacrament of the Altar.

U. That the accidents do not remain without a subject after
consecration in the same Sacrament.

III. That Christ is not in the Sacrament of the Altar identi
cally, verily, and really, in His proper corporal person.

IV. That a bishop or priest, if he be in mortal sin, does not
ordain, consecrate, nor baptize.

V. That if a man be duly contrite, all exterior confession is
superfluous or useless to him.

VI. That he pertinaciously asserts that there is no foundation
in the Gospel for Christ's ordaining the mass.

VII. That God ought to obey the devil.

VIII. That if the pope be a reprobate, and a wicked man,
and by consequence a member of the devil, he has no power
over Christ's faithful ones, granted to him by any one, unless
perchance by Ca?sar.

IX. That after Urban the Sixth no one is to be received for
pope, but that we are to live after the manner of the Greeks
under our own laws.

X. That no prelate ought to excommunicate any one, unless
he first know that he is excommunicated by God.

XI. That he who thus excommunicates is thenceforth an
heretic or excommunicate person.

XII. That a prelate who excommunicates a clerk who has
appealed to the king and council of the kingdom, is by that
act a traitor to God, the king, and kingdom.

AECHBISIIOrS OF CANTERBURY. 347

XIII. That they who leave off to preach, or to hear the CHAP,
word of God or Gospel preached, because they are excommuni- . *_^
cated by men, are excommunicates, and in the day of judgment William
shall be accounted traitors towards God. 1381-90.

XIV. To assert that it is contrary to Holy Scripture that
ecclesiastical men should have temporal possessions.

XV. To assert that it is lawful for any deacon or presbyter
to preach the word of God, without the authority of the apos
tolic see, or of a Catholic bishop, or any other, of which there
is sufficient proof.

XVI. To assert that a civil lord is no lord, a bishop no
bishop, a prelate no prelate, whilst he is in mortal sin.

XVII. That temporal lords may at their pleasure take away
temporal goods from a church habitually delinquent, or that
the people may at their pleasure correct delinquent lords.

XVIII. That tithes are pure alms, and that the parishioners
are able to detain them because of the wickedness of their
curates, and bestow them on others at their pleasure.

XIX. That special prayers applied to a particular person by
prelates or the religious are no more profitable to that same
person than general prayers are, cseteris paribus.

XX. That any one, by entering any private religion whatso
ever, is thereby rendered the more incapable and unfit for
observing the commands of God.

XXI. That holy men instituting any private religions,
whether of those endowed with possessions, or of the mendi
cants, sinned in so doing.

XXII. That the religious living in private religions are not
of the Christian religion.

XXIII. That begging friars are bound to get their living by
the labour of their hands, and not by begging.

XXIV. That friars who beg after their sermons are, on that
account, simoniacs, and those who confer alms on them are
excommunicated, as well the givers as receivers.*

* The above is translated from the Pseudo-Knyghton, 2G48. It
differs slightly from the translation given in Lewis, which I did not
see, or rather did not remember, before this translation was made. See
also Wilkins, iii. 157, and Fascic. Zizan. 277. Canon Shirley, who
has a high appreciation of the merits of Wiclif, without thinking it

348 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. To examine these propositions, the archbishop nomi-
_?_3^-- nated eight bishops, fourteen doctors of canon and civil
om-tenay law> three Dominicans, four Minorites, four Augustinians,
1381-96. four Carmelites, four monks, six bachelors of divinity.*
There was an evident desire to have every party in the
church represented, except, of course, the parties accused.
To give authority to its decisions, this meeting was after
wards called a council ; but it was not a council strictly
speaking, which would have been open to all the suffra
gans, f It was rather a committee of divines, to whose
decision the metropolitan, by adopting it, gave authority.
The place of meeting was not therefore at St. Paul's, where
it would have been, if it had been a provincial council ;
nor was it at Lambeth, where the archbishop was not yet
settled ; but in the chapter-house of the Black Friars a
place was selected, either because the archbishop wa<
lodging in the house until Lambeth should be fit for his
reception ; or, as is more probable, because it was a capa
cious apartment, very frequently lent by the owners foi
public meetings. J

necessary to be unjust to others, remarks : "Whatever share old party
feeling may have had in stirring Courtenay's theological zeal, no
Archbishop of Canterbury, even if inclined, could safely have neglected
to proceed against the author of opinions so profoundly at variance with
the ecclesiastical, even more than with the theological principles of the
day." — Introd. to Fascic. Zizan. xliii.

* The names of the persons forming the committee may be seen in
Fascic. Zizan. 286.

f Hody, 232.

J I have given the probable reasons for the meeting of the com
mittee in the chapter-house of the Black Friars, from the extreme
unfairness in those who think it necessary, in their advocacy of Wiclif,
to attribute the worst motives to his opponents; therein following the
literary Bonner, the martyrologist Foxe. It is said to have been
" ominous " when the meeting was summoned to the chapter-house of
the Black Friars. From the time of Archbishop Kilwardby we have
had frequent occasions to mention meetings in that place. Convoca-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 349

The committee or council met on the day appointed, CHAP.

the 19th of May, 1382, at the friary, at the second hour . ,-J— >

in the afternoon, after dinner. Little more, than what courtenay.
related to preliminary arrangements, was done at the first 1381-96-
meeting. The conclusions, as given above, were laid
before the members ; each was supplied with a copy, and
was requested to examine the subject in private. An
adjournment was then agreed upon till the 21st.

On the 21st, the members reassembled. The arch
bishop himself presided. They had scarcely taken their
seats, when the building was shaken by an earthquake,
the shock of which was felt in every part of England.*
The astonished theologians whispered the word, "adjourn
ment." The archbishop, however, with great presence of
mind, said, in solemn accents and in an authoritative tone,
" Brethren, the living God is arousing you to bestir your
selves in His Church's cause. By a mighty effort the earth
is purging itself of noxious vapours, foreshowing that this
realm must purge itself of heresy, though it will not be
without struggle and commotion." f

The anecdote is worth preserving. It shows, that Cour-
tenay, though eminent neither as a lawyer or a divine,

tions and even a parliament had been held in this convenient place.
I have thought it probable, that the archbishop was lodging there, as
in Dugdale's Baronage I find that Humphrey de Bohtm rebuilt the
cloister of the Black Friars in 1354, and was buried there in 1361.
The connection between a religious house and a benefactor was consi
dered very close, and a descendant of the Bohuns, like the archbishop,
might demand the hospitality of the monks. The matter is not of im
portance, but when bad motives are attributed, one likes to see what, in
the midst of uncharitable conjectures, may be conjectured by charity.

* "Per totam Angliam," says our authority, Fasc. Zizan. 272.

f Wiclif had his interpretation of the earthquake. He compared it
to that which took place at our Lord's crucifixion. Referring to the
Court of Enquiry, he says of the members : " They put an heresy upon
Christ and seynts in hevyne, wherefore the erth tremblide." This was
commonplace if not profane, and certainly had not the merit of being

350 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, possessed that presence of mind, tact, and force of cha-

• racter, which accounts for his being able to take the lead

Courtenay. in public affairs. There is such a thing as the talent

96> of character. A man possessing this talent is found to

direct the energies of men, intellectually his superiors, and

to gain for himself the credit of their labours. His merit

may consist in forcing them to work, and in perceiving the

channel in which their labours will be most successful.

The council, or rather the court of enquiry, proceeded
immediately to business, and was continued by many
adjournments. Nothing was done in a hurry. The meri-
bers availed themselves of the privilege to add to their
numbers, and met on the 12th, 14th, and 20th of Jun3,
and on the 1st of July.* There was a convocation at
St. Frideswide's Church at Oxford on the 18th of Novem
ber, 1382, when three of the committee, who were merr-
bers of the convocation, received the abjuration of seven 1
members of the university, who were suspected of heresj .
The committee was again adjourned to the Chapter-House
at Blackfriars.

As the proceedings have been sometimes misrepre
sented, we shall present the reader with the official report
which, if not dictated by Courtenay, was drawn up undei
his inspection, and published by his authority.

Be it remembered that since, both among the nobility and
people of the realm of England, a report has been spread

impromptu. The idea of making a mark of Divine vengeance was
common. The following is from one of the political songs of the day :
" In hoc tememotu abhora diei,
Quia tune convenerant scriboe, Pharisaei,
Cum summis sacerdotibus contra Christum Dei,
Vultus ira3 patuit divinas faciei.

With an 0 and an I, sanctos diffamarunt,
Per hsereses et schismata quae falsa patrarunt."

Pol. Songs, i. 254.
* Fasc. Zizan. 290.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 351

abroad that some heretical and erroneous conclusions and CHAP,
determinations hostile to the Church, which aim at subverting . _XVI'_-
the state of our whole Church, the province of Canterbury, and William

, Courtenay.

the tranquillity of the realm, are generally, commonly, and 1381-96.
publickly preached in divers parts of our said province : we
William, by divine permission, Archbishop of Canterbury, &c.
having been certified on these points, and wishing to exercise
the due functions of our office, convoked certain venerable
brethren, our suffragans and others, as well as many Doctors
and Bachelors of Sacred Theology, and of canon and civil law,
whom we deem the more famous and learned in the kingdom,
thinking them also very sound in the Catholic faith, whose
names are contained below; and on the 17th day of the month
of May, A.D. 1382, in a certain chamber within the walls of the
Priory of the Preaching Brothers at London, the said conclu
sions, the contents of which are contained below, having been
publickly proposed, and distinctly and clearly read before us,
and our said brethren convoked, then personally present, we
charged our said brethren, Doctors and Bachelors, by the faith
in which they are held in our Lord Jesus Christ, and as they
wished to make answer before the supreme Judge at the day
of judgment, that they should speak with us on the said
conclusions, and that each of them should declare his senti
ments. At length, after deliberation had on the matters afore
said, on the 21st day of the said month, our brethren, the
Doctors and Bachelors before mentioned, met in our presence,
in the said chamber, and the said conclusions being a second
time read and clearly explained, in accordance with our own
counsel and that of all others, it was declared, that some of the
said conclusions were heretical, and some erroneous and con
trary to the determination of the Church, as is below more
fully apparent ; and since by sufficient information we have
found that the said conclusions, in many parts of our said
Province, have been preached, as is premised, and that certain
persons have held and taught certain of them, so as to be
vehemently and notoriously suspected of heresy ; we have
framed the processes below written, both in general and in
particular.*

* Translated from Reg. Courtenay, fol. 25.

352 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The archbishop, acting with the advice of his suffragans
. xyL-- and of certain doctors learned in the law whom he con-

ourtenay sul ted, determined to convert into a public act what might
1381-96. otherwise have been represented as the opinion of indi
viduals at a private meeting. He availed himself of the
prevalent feeling, that the late earthquake, by which the
whole nation had been alarmed, was an indication of the
Divine wrath at the sins of- the people ; * under which
category he placed the hike war mness exhibited by the
bishops when heresy was rampant in the realm. He
proclaimed a solemn procession, to take place in Whitsu.i-
week. On that day, the whole population of London was
astir. High and low, rich and poor, laity and clergy,
were arranged according to their condition of life, and
Avalked, barefoot, through the city. At the gates of the
precincts of St. Paul's the procession was met by the Bishop
of London, the dean, and the cathedral clergy. The
people then ranged themselves round Paul's Cross, and

* The feeling of the nation is thus described in one of the songs <f
the day : —

" And also whon this eorthe qwok,
Was non so proud he nas agast,
And al his jolite forsok,

And thouyt on God whil that hit last.
And alsone as hit was over past,
Men wox as uvel as thei dede are

Uche mon in his herte may cast,
This was a warnyng to be ware.

For sothe this was a Lord to drede,

So sodeynly made mon agast ;
Of gold and selver thei tok non hede,

But out of ther houses ful sone thei past.

Chaumbres, chymeneys, al to-barst,
Chirches and castelles foule gon fare ;

Pinacles, steples, to grounde hit cast ;
And al was for warnyng to be ware."

Extract from Political Poems, i. 251,
on the earthquake of 1382.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 353

Dr. John Kynyngham, or Cunningham, ascended the pulpit. CHAP.
He read the nine conclusions pronounced to be heretical, ._XVL _
and the fifteen declared to be erroneous ; and, in the Q™^
name of the archbishop., he denounced as excommunicate 1381-96.
all who should defend them now or hereafter.*

The archbishop followed Wiclif 's example. He deter
mined to appeal for support to the king, and to the par
liament for power to render his judgment more than a
brutum fulmen to those, by whom his excommunication
would be treated with contempt. Up to this time, the
Church had wielded spiritual weapons, and these only.
Her excommunications had been sufficient to punish her
enemies, or to arm her sons in her defence. But to Cour-
tenay the discredit belongs of having been the first to
bring in the arm of flesh, and that in not a very straight
forward manner. Certainly, we cannot deny that mild
measures were at first adopted — measures in accordance
with those which would be now pursued ; but by him
the principle was first adopted of visiting spiritual offences
with temporal penalties. The principle once admitted,
the penalties were soon made capital A very few years
were to pass, when, as we shall see in the Life of Arundel,
the civil magistrate undertook to burn a relapsed heretic.
Although this was not yet the case, still we read with
feelings of repugnance the first Act of Parliament f which
was passed for the suppression of heresy. It runs thus :

Forasmuch as it is openly known that there be divers evil

* Pseudo-Knyghton, 2G50. Cunningham was provincial of the
Carmelite Order, and confessor to John of Gaunt, for which reason
he was probably chosen on this occasion. He was one of Wiclif s
earliest opponents. In his controversial works against Wiclif, lie
writes as a Christian and a scholar, whatever may be thought of his
arguments.

f It is doubtful whether this can be properly called an Act of Parlia
ment, as it was passed by the king and lords without asking the assent

VOL. IY. A A

354 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, persons within the realm, going from county to county, and
, x^ I- _, from town to town, in certain habits, under dissimulation of
William great holiness, and without the licence of the ordinaries of
1381-&5.' the places, or other sufficient authority, preaching daily, r.ot
only in churches and churchyards, but also in markets,
fairs, and other open places, where a great congregation of
people is, diverse sermons containing heresies and notorious
errors, to the great embleamishing of the Christian faith, and
destruction of the laws and of the estate of Holy Church,
to the great peril of the souls of the people, and of all
the realm of England, as more plainly is found, and sufficiently
proved before the Keverend Father in Grod, the Archbishop }f
Canterbury, and the bishops and other prelates, masters )f
divinity, and doctors of canon and of civil law, and a great
part of the clergy of the said realm specially assembled for this
cause, which persons do also preach diverse matters of sclaunder,
to engender discord and dissension betwixt diverse estates of tte
said realm, as well spiritual as temporal, in exciting of the
people to the great peril of all the realm, which preachers citei
or summoned before the ordinaries of the places, there to
answer of that whereof they be impeached, will not obey t)
their summons and commandments, nor care not for their
monitions nor censures of the Holy Church, but expressly despis »
them; and, moreover, by their subtil and ingenious words do
draw the people to hear their sermons, and do maintain them
in their errors by strong hand and by great routs : It i>
ordained and assented in this present parliament that the
king's commissions be made and directed to the shiriffes anc
other ministers of our sovereign lord the king, or other suffi
cient persons learned; and according to the certifications of the

of the commons. The king and lords, in times past, had not thought
much of the commons, except when a subsidy was required. There is
no reason to suppose that any insult was now intended. But the con
stant parliaments in the reign of Echvard III., and the incessant de
mands of the king for money, had made the commons aware of their
own importance ; and in a subsequent parliament they demanded that,
on the ground of their assent not having been obtained, the statute
should be declared void. This was urged no doubt by the Lollards,
but it was suggested by the constitutional lawyers.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 355

prelates thereof, to be made in the chancery from time to time, CHAP.
to arrest all such preachers, and also their fautors, maintainors, , XVI.
and abettors, and to hold them in arrest and strong prison till
they will justify them according to the law and reason of Holy
Church. And the king willeth and commandeth that the chan
cellor make such commissions at all times that he, by the
prelates or any of them, shall be certified and thereof required,
as is aforesaid.*

We must do justice to the archbishop by bearing
in mind the extreme difficulties by which he was sur
rounded. Hitherto, prelates and primates had difficulties
to contend with in state affairs, but ah1 had been smooth
as to the dogmas of Christianity. False dogmas, as
we now very properly regard them, had certainly, from
time to time, crept in, and were, at their first appearance,
opposed ; but when once the Church had spoken authori
tatively, the dogma was as readily accepted as a law
when promulgated by the State. This was the first time
that a revolutionary spirit had shown itself in matters
purely spiritual — the first time that strong passions, in
ignorant minds, had been appealed to on the subject. It
was well for Wiclif, who, though opposed, was certainly
not persecuted, that Courtenay was not himself a theolo
gian. The odium tlieologieum did not exist in him. He
had no strong views on religious questions. His duty, as
he regarded it, was to keep the peace of the Church, and
preserve it, internally and externally, intact, as he found
it.f He felt, that he must seek support from all quarters.

. II. c. 5. Gibson's Codex, i. 390.
f The question, What is toleration ? — how far men may be per
mitted to go without doing serious injury to society — has not yet
been fully answered even in England. The question whether a man
sworn to preach certain doctrines, and receiving certain emoluments
for so doing, ought to be deprived of those emoluments when he
preaches against what he is sworn to uphold, is another and a very ctif-

A A 2

356 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. He scarcely knew upon whom he could rely. All the

>-\. ' * discontented spirits — and they abounded in the land,

Courtenay. whether they agreed with them or not in point of doc-

1381-96. trine — Were willing to take part with the Wiclifites in

their resistance to constituted authority. In their hatred

of the mendicants, a large portion of the secular clergy

was unwilling to renounce the leadership of such a man

as Wiclif, against their common enemy ; or to suppose

that the' charge of heresy was anything more than the

ruse of a party.

The archbishop did not attempt to disturb Wiclif in his
living of Lutterworth. There he might remain, if h>3
would only be quiet. All he did in this respect, was to
address a letter to his suffragans, through the Bishop of
London, warning them, and especially the Bishop of Lin
coln, in whose diocese Lutterworth was situated, that the
heresies above mentioned were propounded, and calling;
upon them " to warn and admonish, that no man froir.
henceforth, of what estate or condition whatsoever, dc
hold, preach, or defend the foresaid heresies and errors
or any of them, under pain of the greater excommuni
cation."*

He was compelled to take stronger and more decided
measures against the University of Oxford. Here there were
many who not only held but who zealously propagated
the principles of Wiclif; and pushed them sometimes to
an extreme which astonished the great doctor himself.

ferent question. It was not the question brought before Courtenay.
In Roman Catholic countries at the present time toleration is unknown.
Take for example Italy and Spain. To obtain English gold, the
English are permitted to have a chapel, under degrading circumstances,
at Rome, but it would be at peril of his life that an Italian would attend
the service. So also in Spain. It is with this party that Courtenay
and Arundel should be compared, if we would do them justice.
* Pseudo-Knyghton, col. 2C51.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 357

Wiclif was surprised to find, that certain conclusions CHAP.
were logically deducible from the premisses which he < — ->-—
had zealously established and fearlessly asserted. His courtenay
attempt to explain them in an inoffensive sense, laid him 1381~96-
open, sometimes, to a charge of inconsistency. In addition
to these, there were many, who cared little for his
opinions, but who were prepared to protect his person
and maintain his cause. Wiclif had fought the* cause of
the university against the mendicants, their diocesan, and
the pope ; and Oxford men felt under an obligation to
him. How far the last-mentioned class would stand by
Wiclif, now that he was declared heretical, remained to
be seen. Although Courtenay at length succeeded, yet
in the measures he adopted in dealing with the Oxford
men, he did not show the sound judgment we should
have expected from a man of his worldly tact and
wisdom ; and who, withal, possessed so much experience,
as a former governor of the university.

The two leading persons at the university, at this time,
were not men of earnest minds, and Courtenay evidently
knew their character. He felt that they must be terrified
into doing what he thought to be right. They were men
who had fought Wiclif 's battles, so long as they could do
so without danger to themselves. After a small show of
resistance, when they found the archbishop to be a man
with whom it was not safe to trifle, they yielded. Dr.
Eugge was chancellor, and declared himself a Wiclifite.
He was supported by Dr. Nicolas Herford and by Philip
Eepyngdon, who had just taken his degree as a doctor of
divinity. They were backed by a faction — for so we may
designate a party, which distinguishes itself by its dress.
They went barefooted, arrayed in a russet or grey gown
reaching to the ankles.

Such was the state of the university, when the arch
bishop thought it necessary to interpose. He selected as

358 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, his commissioner Dr. Peter Stokes. Why Peter Stokes
v / , '-> was chosen, it is difficult to surmise ; unless, as is probable,
Courtenay. the primate was aware that no one else holding a high
1381-96. pOSition ill the university would have accepted the com
mission, or, at all events, have executed it with cordiality
and zeal. Dr. Stokes was certainly a man of eminence,
being professor of theology in the house of the Car
melites. ^ But the fact of his being a Carmelite, marked
him for a party man ; and from that very circumstance;,
challenged opposition.

In the commission directed by the archbishop to
Stokes, he states that he had heard that some " sons of
eternal perdition," in defiance of church authority, and
under the cover of great sanctity, were not afraid to
assert, dogmatise, and publicly to preach, as well in the.
churches as in the streets, and other profane places, some;
propositions, which had been condemned by the Church
as heretical, erroneous, and false. He then alluded tc
those propositions which, acting by the advice and assent
of very many of his brethren and suffragans, in con
junction with a great many doctors of divinity, and
professors of canon and civil law, and others of the clergy,
he had himself declared to be repugnant to the deter
minations of the Church. He therefore commissioned
and commanded Dr. Stokes, enjoining him, by that
obedience which he owed to him, the archbishop,
publicly to admonish and inhibit — that no one for the
future, of whatever state or condition, do hold, preach,
or defend the heresies or errors aforesaid, or any of
them, in the University of Oxford, in the schools or
out of them, publicly or privately, or do hear or
hearken unto, or favour or adhere to, publicly or pri
vately, any one who preaches these heresies or errors,
or any of them, but do fly from them as from a serpent
sending forth pestilential poison, and avoid them on pain

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 359

of the greater excommunication, which, by these writings, CHAP.
he did decree against all and singular those who, on this > — ^_L
occasion, showed themselves rebels, and did not obey .his couitena
admonitions. This letter or commission is dated at the 1381~9
archbishop's manor of Otford, the 28th day of the
month of May, A.D. 1382, and the first year of his
translation.*

The archbishop received information from Dr, Stokes,
that when he exhibited the archiepiscopal mandate to the
chancellor, together with a letter to Dr. Rugge himself,
desiring that he would render every assistance in his
power to the archiepiscopal commissioner, the answer
which that commissioner received was, that the whole
proceeding was a direct attack upon the rights, liberties,
and immunities of the university. The chancellor affirmed
that no bishop, not the metropolitan himself, even in a
case of heresy, ha'd any authority or jurisdiction within
the University of Oxford. This was much the same line
of conduct as that which had been pursued by Courtenay
himself when chancellor.

Upon consultation with the proctors and other leading
men of the university, Dr. Eugge, however, was induced
to withhold the protest lie had drawn up against the
aggression of the metropolitan. They were aware, that a
specific charge of heresy had been established against
Wiclif ; there was a strong party against him in the coun
try ; and the archbishop had given them to understand,
that the king was about to support him, in a letter to the*
university against Wiclif ; while measures were, at the
same time, in deliberation for obtaining an Act of Par
liament which might seriously affect their rights. It was
therefore considered inexpedient to raise the abstract
question of right.

* Fascic. Zizan. 275.

360 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. When the opposition was, for these and other reasons,
_xyL_, withdrawn, Dr. Stokes was directed by the primate to
olrten^. proceed ; but his opponents knew the man, and they
1381-96. played upon his fears. They acted, indeed, as we should
now say, " like a parcel of schoolboys." The chancellor,
to terrify the unfortunate Stokes, paraded the streets wir,h
his attendants, whether called " bulldogs" or not, in com
plete armour. They talked loud that, if they could not
compel the Carmelite to leave the town, they, at lea>t,
might slay him. Inflammatory sermons were preached.
Some of the sermons went so far as to justify the late
insurrection, and to threaten with death all who should
oppose Dr. Wiclif and his followers.

When this was notified to the archbishop, he signified
to the reluctant Stokes, that the condemnation of tha
heretical propositions must be published on or before Ji
certain fixed day. Until the sentence 'was published, no
one could be censured for holding or for defending the
condemned propositions.

The authorities of the university were prepared to give
audience, at the appointed time, to the archbishop's com
missary. The cemetery of St. Frideswyde was the place
of assembly. A sermon, however, was first to be preached.
The chancellor nominated the newly-made doctor, Dr.
Bepyngdon,* to preach on the occasion. His sermon was
so violent that, judging from the character of the man,
and taking into consideration what afterwards occurred,
.we have no doubt that the intention was to alarm
Dr. Stokes. The sermon was received with such applause
as showed that the preacher carried his hearers with him.
But it was not by words only that the timid Carmelite was
to be terrified. As the students shouted and raised their
hands, the clank of armour was heard. Dr. Stokes looked

* He was afterwards a violent opponent of the Lollards.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 361

down, and saw the armour scarcely concealed beneath CHAP.
their gowns. He trembled ; and no publication that day
took place. He afterwards told the archbishop, that as
he left the church he saw the greeting which passed 1381~96-
.between the chancellor and Dr. Eepyngdon. They were
smiling at the success of what was regarded, by the
Wiclifites, as a good joke.*

Still the chancellor kept up the appearance of deference
to the archbishop ; and it was proposed that Eepyngdon
and Stokes should dispute publicly in the schools. On the
day on which Dr. Eepyngdon declaimed all was decency
and order, and poor Stokes took courage. But when Dr.
Stokes was preparing to defend the existing order of
things, he looked up and saw arrayed before him twelve
men in armour. The armour was covered with a gown,
but, as on a former occasion, it was not intended to be
concealed. Dr. Stokes expected to be killed before he
left the chair, and fled from the school with a precipita
tion which created much merriment among his opponents,
who intended that " their bark should be worse than their
bite."

The archbishop saw through the whole manoeuvre, and,
delivering Stokes from his persecutors, summoned him
immediately to Lambeth, whither the archbishop had
moved from Otford. Stokes stole out of the university
unperceived, and, travelling post-haste, he reached
Lambeth that very night.

When Dr. Eugge found that Stokes had fled to the
archbishop, he began to think that matters were becoming
serious. It had been amusing enough to defend the rights
of the university by playing on the fears of Dr. Stokes,
to whose mismanagement he might hereafter attribute
any disturbances that might occur. But now he felt

* Fasc. Zizan. 300.

362 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, that he must make the best of the case to the archbishop

V"\7"T

v_ r~s himself, and he hastened to Lambeth, hoping, in a per-

Courtenay. sonal interview, to effect a compromise.

The archbishop, in the meantime, had received Dr. Stokes
with great kindness, and had heard his story. He refused
to grant a private audience to Dr. Eugge, but summoned
a council, before which the chancellor was required to
appear. On the 12th of June, Dr. Eugge arrived again at
Lambeth, attended by Thomas Brightwell. Evidence \vas
produced to prove, that the chancellor and the proctcrs
had shown favour to the Wiclifites ; and on this point,
there was nothing to be said in their defence. The fact
was indisputable, and admitted. The chancellor w;is
condemned for contempt, in having refused to give
effect to the mandate of the archbishop. He asked pardcn
on his knees.* The good Bishop of Winchester, William
of Wykeham, interceded for him. The archbishop par
doned him, and gave him another mandate.

The mandate required the chancellor not to molest any
of the clergy, regular or secular, who had aided, or should
hereafter aid, in promulgating the condemnation of th3
conclusions; and it further enjoined him not to permit
anyone henceforth to preach, teach, or hold the con
demned doctrines in the university, on pain of the greater
condemnation. To these requirements Dr. Eugge assented
But when another mandate was delivered to him, whicl
required him not only to publish the condemnation of the
conclusions, but also to search the colleges and halls foi
suspected persons, Eugge remarked, that this mandate

* " Humiliter veniam petiit ab archiepiscopo genibus flexis." Fasc.
Zizan. 308. The whole thing seems to have been prearranged. The
chancellor was willing to submit, and the archbishop to pardon, but all
the forms were to be observed. It was easy to see that Dr. Eugge,
though he used the Lollards for party purposes, did not himself care
for the opinions of Wiclif.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

363

he could only execute at peril of his life. " Then," said
the archbishop, " you admit that the university is a
fosterer of heresy, and opposed to catholic truth " — a
significant observation, coming from a man of the arch-
bishop's determination of character.

Eugge was a weak man. When he repeated what had
taken place at Lambeth, the excitement in the university
was great ; and his conduct was severely censured by his
party, with whom, nevertheless, he determined still to act.
What he had pledged himself to do, was to protect those
who proclaimed the condemnation of the conclusions, and
also to proclaim that condemnation himself. But he in
formed his adherents, that this was not a censure of the
whole Wiclifite party ; it was only a condemnation of
some of the tenets which they held. He did not hesitate,
therefore, in order to regain the favour of his friends, to
suspend one Henry Crumpe, for calling the Wiclifites
heretics.

The archbishop soon gave proof, that although he had
treated Dr. Eugge with leniency, he was, nevertheless,
thoroughly in earnest. The archiepiscopal jurisdiction
was disputed in Oxford ; the archbishop, therefore, once
more applied for the royal authority to strengthen his
hands. So great had been the alarm which the new doc
trines had occasioned — connected as they now were, in
most men's minds, however unjustly, with the late insur
rection — that Courtenay found no difficulty in obtaining a
royal brief, under the great seal, commanding a com
pliance with his previous injunctions. In this brief, the
king warned the chancellor and proctors of the university,
that Henry Crumpe had lodged a complaint against them,
for having unlawfully suspended him ; that the case
having been examined by a committee of the Privy
Council at Westminster, the king, on the report of the
committee of council, ordered the resignation of the

CHAP.

1381~96-

364 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, chancellor. The king also charged them, on their alle-

> — -^— — ' giance, not to molest the said Henry Crumpe, or Peter

Courtenay. Stokes, or Stephen Patrington, for what they had done

96> against Wiclif 's doctrine ; and he required them to assist

in the search to be made for the preachers of heresy

and the favourers of heretics.

The university did not resist this flagrant invasion
of their rights. Party feeling ran high ; but the
leading Wiclifites were not willing, by carrying their
spirit of insubordination farther, to give colour to the
report, which their enemies industriously circulated,
that they were concerned in the late insurrection. TAQ
university might resist the archbishop, and have the
support of a large portion of the community ; but no
class would, at this time, have tolerated their resistance ;o
the king. Even the rebels had professed to pay deference
to the royal authority. The wholesale executions of the
insurrectionists throughout the country created alarm in
all, except those who had accepted the new doctrines net
merely as a party-cry, but as an article of faith. A
reaction took place. Herford and Eepyngdon* wer3
suspended by the university. They appealed to the Dub 3
of Lancaster. But John of Gaunt had no longer u
political object in favouring the Wiclifites ; and perhaps
was really alarmed when he became acquainted with the
freedom of their opinions, and the extent of their opposi
tion to the established doctrines of the Church. He had

* The minds of men were unsettled ; and men not thoroughly in
earnest took up for party purposes, and maintained for a time,
opinions and principles which they afterwards repudiated. "We have
an instance of this in the parties now engaged in controversy. Henry
Crumpe, who accused the Lollards of heresy, was himself condemned
as a heretic in a council held by the archbishop at Stamford in 1392.
Repyngdon afterwards opposed the Wiclifites as strongly as he at one
time supported them, and was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln by
Archbishop Arundel.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 365

endeavoured to persuade his friend Wiclif to retract, and CHAP.
when he failed in this he became an opponent of the
party.

Eepyngdon and Herford, suspended by the university, 1381-96-
had now to humiliate themselves by applying for redress
to the very power they had resisted. They appealed to
the archbishop. Courtenay acted now as he had done
before. He appointed them a hearing at the Church of
the Black Friars, and allowed them sufficient time to pre
pare their case. He then nominated a court of enquiry,
to consist of ten bishops, thirty doctors of divinity, six
teen doctors of law, thirteen bachelors of divinity, and
some bachelors of canon and civil law. The answers
of the accused were examined, and pronounced to be
heretical. Other persons were now delated before the
archbishop, but all who were accused recanted ; and the
Wiclifite party in the University at Oxford received a
blow, from which it never recovered.

At the convocation held in Oxford in 1382, at which
the archbishop presided, Wiclif condescended to explain
his opinions on the subject of the Eucharist, and on
other matters with reference to which his tenets were
regarded as heretical. His explanations were by his
contemporaries regarded as a recantation.* Such they
may not have actually been ; but certainly they were

* The modern biographers of Wiclif are diligent in attempting to
prove that he was not guilty of any inconsistency, and that he did not
recant. It is sufficient for us to know that he certainly explained
himself so as to render it possible for the archbishop and the other
prelates, who did not wish to deal harshly with him, to permit him to
depart in peace. Pseudo-Knyghton says : '•' Similiter aifuit magister
Johannes Wiclif ad respondendum super haBretica pravitate, ut prius de
praedictis conclusionibus sive opinionibus. Qui eis omnino renuncians
nee eas tenuisse nee tenere se velle protestans ad maternalis virgas
documentum, quod ei antea pro refugio prajsto fuerat, advolavit iterum
sub forma quse sequitur." — X Scriptores, col. 2G49.

366 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of such a character as to render it possible for the arch-

,— ' bishop and his assessors to permit him, without further

Courtenay. molestation, to enjoy the remainder of his life at peace

1381-96. jn jajg parsonage of Lutterworth ; and Wiclif himself

gave his judges no further cause of complaint. Their

sentence was, " Go and sin no more." Wiclif 's dearth

took place in the December of 1384. On the 29th of

that month, when he was assisting at mass, and just as

the sacrament was elevated, he was mortally seized with

paralysis, and died two days afterwards.

The reader will bear in mind that the object in this
section is to bring under one point of view the proceed
ings of Courtenay against Wiclif and his followers. WB
shall presently see how actively he was employed during
the next two or three years. But we hear little of
him in connection with the Wiclifites until we come to
the year 1388. In this year, immediately after the
second coronation of Richard II., at which the arch
bishop himself officiated, the two houses of parliament
addressed the throne, complaining of the spread of Lol-
lardism, and reminding the king of the dangers which
would accrue to the kingdom if effective measures were
not taken to repress the evil.* The king, in consequence,
addressed a remonstrance to the archbishops and their
suffragans, calling upon them to act with greater vigilance
and vigour, and to put the canons of the Church into
execution. He went further. He constituted, by his letters-
patent, two inquisitors — Mr. Thomas Brightwell, D.D.,
Dean of Leicester, and William Chesulden, prebendary of
the same collegiate church — to peruse the Lollards' books,
and to make enquiry for those who abetted false doctrine.
"You are," he said —

* Pseudo-Knyghton, col. 2708. The writer complains that this
commission was nob- vigorously acted upon. " The time for discipline,"
he says, " has not yet arrived."

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 367

To make proclamation, strictly requiring, in our name, that CHAP,
no person, of what degree, condition, or quality soever, under „ XVL ^
the penalty of being imprisoned, and forfeiting whatever they William
are liable to forfeit, do presume to maintain, teach, or obsti- 1381-96.'
nately defend, publicly or privately, any of these wicked and
scandalous opinions, or to keep, transcribe, to buy or sell, any
such books, treatises, and libels in any manner whatsoever;
but to deliver without delay all and every such books in their
custody to you upon their being thereunto required. And all
those who shall be found not to submit to our proclamation,
and continue to maintain their wicked opinions, notwithstanding
our prohibition, our will and pleasure is, that they be summoned
by you, Thomas and William above mentioned, and diligently
examined by you ; and being convicted upon any of thea rticles
above mentioned, they are to be committed by our ministers of
justice to the next gaol, there to be detained till such time as
they shall either renounce their heresies, errors, and unsound
opinions, or that we shall think fit to resolve otherwise, and
send an order for their discharge ; and, therefore, we command
you to use your utmost diligence concerning the premises, and
execute our orders in the manner and form above mentioned.
And we likewise strictly command all and singular ecclesiastics,
:high sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, and others, our ministers and
i liege subjects, as well within liberties as without, to aid and
assist you, and every of you, in the performance of the pre-
imises. In witness we have caused our letters to be made
i patent. Witness ourselves at Westminster, the three-and-
twentieth day of May, and the eleventh year of our reign.

In 1389 an action was brought into the archbishop's
•court, when he was holding bis visitation at Leicester,
against Eoger Dexter, Nicolas Taylor, and some other
persons, whose names were given in the indictment. They
were accused of heresy. The archbishop summoned them,
to meet the charge, the next day. The parties accused
absconded. For contempt of court they were, of course,
excommunicated ; and the excommunication was pro
nounced, on Allhallows Day, the 1st of November,

368 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, in the usual form. The Lollards be'ins* numerous in
xvi
v-1. -— Leicester, the archbishop determined to make the cere-

Courte£ay. mony as solemn and impressive as possible. He also
96< laid the town under an interdict ; that is, he prohibited
the performance of the sacred rites of the Church, so long
as the persons excommunicated should remain in conceal
ment. This measure was so effective, that several of the
parties excommunicated abjured their heresies, if such
they were, and were reconciled to the Church. Among
these were William Smith, Eoger Dexter, and Alice
his wife. The penance which the archbishop imposed
was by no means severe, as the following letter will
show. His object was to make such an example, as
would restrain people from breaking the law, but to
deal as leniently as possible with the offenders then-
selves : —

Seeing our holy mother the Church closeth not her boson
to any penitent child returning to the unity of her, but readily
openeth to them the same, we therefore received again tho
said William, Eoger, and Alice to grace, and caused them to
abjure all and singular the aforesaid articles and opinions, anc
then granted unto them the benefit of absolution, and loosec
them from the sentence of excommunication, wherein they were
involved, on their faithfully requesting it, enjoining unto them
penance according to their crime in form following, — that is to
say, that on the Sunday next after their return to their own
place, they holding in their right hands, William an image of
St. Catherine, and Eoger and Alice each a crucifix: they,
William and Eoger, in their shirts and breeches, and Alice in her
undergarment only, with bare head and feet, do walk before the
procession of the collegiate church of St. Mary in the Newarks
at Leicester ; and thrice, that is to say, in the beginning of the
procession, in the middle of the procession, and at the end of
the procession, to the honour of Him that was crucified, in
memorial of His passion, and to the honour of the aforesaid
Virgin, devoutly bowing their knees and kneeling, shall kiss the
said images so held in their hands ; and so with the same pro-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 369

cession, they entering again into the church, shall stand during CHAP,
all the time of the holy mass before the image of the cross, _X^L
with the tapers and crosses in their hands ; and when the mass William
is ended, the said William, Eoger, and Alice shall offer to him
that celebrated that day the mass. Then, upon the Saturday
next ensuing, the said William, Roger, and Alice shall, in the
full and public market within the town of Leicester, stand in
like manner in their shirts, without any more clothes upon their
bodies, holding the aforesaid images in their right hands, which
images three times they shall devoutly kiss, reverently kneeling
upon their knees — that is, at the entrance, in the middle, and at
the end of the market-place. And the said William, for that
he is somewhat more learned, shall repeat an Antiphone with
the Collect of St. Catherine; and the aforesaid Eoger and
Alice, being unlearned, shall say devoutly a Pater Noster and an
Ave Maria. And thirdly, the Sunday next immediately after
the same, the said William, Roger, and Alice, in their parish
church of the said town of Leicester, shall stand and do as upon
the Sunday before they stood and did in the collegiate church of
St. Mary Newarks aforesaid in all things ; which done, the
aforesaid William, Roger, and Alice, after mass, shall offer to
1 the priest or chaplain that celebrated the same, with all
humility and reverence, the wax tapers which they shall carry
in their hands. And because of the cold weather that now is,
'lest the aforesaid penitents might peradventure take some
bodily hurt standing so long naked, being mindful to moderate
i partly the said our rigour, we give leave that after their
•entrance into the churches above mentioned, while they shall
be hearing the masses aforesaid, they may put on necessary
< garments to keep them from cold, so that their heads and feet,
notwithstanding, be bare and uncovered. We, therefore, will
:and command you, together and apart, that you declare the
•said William, Roger, and Alice to be absolved and restored
;IL;;UII to the unity of our holy mother the Church, and that you
. call them forth to do penance in form and manner aforesaid.
1 Given at Dorchester the seventeenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord God 1389, and in the ninth of our translation.*

* Ex. Keg. Courtenay, fol. 144; and Wilkins, ii'i. 211. Even Foxe
admits that he could find no one put to death for his religion during
VOL. IV. B B

370 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Courtenay was, both by natural temperament and by
^1^ education, unable to understand the position of Wirlif
^rtenay. and his followers. His notion of man's duty was that lie
1381-96. should obey the laws, and accept, even if he could not
believe, whatever the Church asserted as a dogma. If
laws were bad, the State must change them ; if dogi in
was to be amplified, explained, or annulled, the Church
was to do it. If a man acted thus, he would live un
molested in this world, and he would be secure of the life
to come. But while striving to live thus he would often
foil, therefore he would have to submit to certain penalties
for disobeying the law of the land — to certain penances
for transgressing the principles of virtue, or the regula
tions which, for the promotion of virtue, the Church im
posed. He who taught otherwise must be restrained as a
disturber of the peace, and punished as a felon in the
sight of God and of man. Mild measures should be first
adopted ; if these failed, severer punishment must be in
flicted. The violator of the king's peace, or of the peac3
of the Church, was, for the sake of all, to be dealt with
in such manner as to prevent him from offending again,
and to avert the evil precedent which his impiety mighj
present to the world.

We may think Courtenay to have been in error, ant
we may regard his position as untenable ; but that positior

Courtcnay's episcopate. But with his usual intolerance he assumes thai
the archbishop panted to shed blood, and was only prevented by th(
extreme amiability of King Richard II., who had not only permitted
thousands of innocent persons to whom he had sworn protection to be
put to a cruel death, but in 1394 threatened to put Sir Richard Stury,
who had served him and his grandfather for many years, to death, if he
did not renounce the opinions of Wiclif : " De Kicardo Stury accepit
juramentum quod de caitero opiniones hujusmodi non teneret. Quo
facto, dixit rex, Et ego juro tibi, si tu unquam violaveris juramentum,
morte turpissima morieris." Walsingham, ii. 215.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 371

is perfectly intelligible. He was a practical man, and saw CHAP.
clearly that the Wiclifites had grounds of complaint in
relation to the maladministration of the Church ; and in
the administration of ecclesiastical affairs he desired to 1381-96-
introduce reforms. He was not himself, as so many of his
predecessors had been, a lawyer and statesman making
things spiritual not the first but only a secondary consi
deration ; but he, in his maturer years, devoted to the
duties of his sacred office those energies which in early
life, with all the prejudices of an aristocrat, he had given
to party.

II. We have alluded to an occurrence which took place
during his visitation at Leicester. To the visitation itself
the reader's attention will now be directed. Courtenay 's
object was to correct those abuses which had arisen in
the Church from the frequent non-residence, or only occa
sional residence, of diocesans versed in affairs of state.
His provincial visitation commenced in 1382 ; and he gave
notice that lie should hold a visitation of the different
dioceses of his province as time and opportunity might
render it convenient. A provincial visitation was always
unpopular. The suffragans were unwilling to have their
jurisdictions suspended ; the superior ordinaries were
inhibited ; the proceedings of the ecclesiastical courts
were interrupted ; and the laity as well as the clergy
complained of the prosecutions. The minute investigations
whicli took place at such times were not unfrequently the
cause of much annoyance. For an example of the minute
ness of the regulations on these occasions, we may refer
to wrhat transpired when Archbishop Courtenay was hold
ing a visitation of the Convent of St. Augustine, in Bristol,
although, in this instance, the archbishop's decision afforded
relief to the complainants. The visitor found fault with
the manner in which the canons appeared before him.

372 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. They, in their turn, complained that, their habit being

_XVL,^ white, it was scarcely possible to keep their clothes cle; n.

ouiten"1 They were continually soiled by the dirt and grease of

1381-96. the black leather boots, which they were also obliged to

wear by the rule of their establishment. The archbishop

took their case into consideration, and, in a licence from

Mayfield, granted them a dispensation to use, within the

precincts of the monastery, stockings and hose of cloth, of

a black or brown colour, so that the price did not exceed

twentypence per yard. When they went abroad, they had

to appear in boots.*

The archbishop met most opposition from the Bishops
of Salisbury f and Exeter. J The Bishop of Exeter issued

* Notices of Mayfield Palace, by Mr. Iloare, Sussex Archaeological
Coll. II. 229. In the visitation of Selborne Priory, Hants, by William of
Wykeham in 1387, the canons incurred a severe reprimand for wearioi
coloured stockings without permission. (White's Selborne.) I give this
as I find it. The habit of the Austin Canons was a black cassocl,
white rochet, and black stockings. Hence they were called Blac'c
Canons. These may have been under an exceptional rule.

•f Ralph Erghum. Little is known of this prelate. lie occurs-,
without date but previously to 1375, as prebendary of X librarian, in
the cathedral of Lincoln. He was also Archdeacon of Dorset, and
Chancellor of Lancaster. He was consecrated at Bruges to tin*
Bishopric of Sarum. He was translated to Bath in 1388, and died 01
the 10th of April, 1400. — Walsingham. Reg. Erghum, MSS. Wharton

J Thomas Brautingham was a native of Exeter, and at an carl)
period of life was appointed canon of the cathedral. He was educated
in the court of Edward III. and Queen Philippa. In 1370 he waf
Keeper of the Wardrobe, and filled a variety of secular offices ; and at
the time of his election to the bishopric of Exeter, he was Lord High
Treasurer of England. He was consecrated at Stepney on the 12th oi
May, 1370. Although distinguished chiefly as a statesman, towards
the close of his life he attended to his episcopal duties. He added the
ornamented western facade to his cathedral, and substituted a new for
an old cloister. For the convenience of the priests and vicars, he pro
vided them with a common hall and kitchen, with suitable chambers
and offices. He died December 23, 1394. (Oliver. Reg. Brantingham,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 373

his mandate, forbidding all persons in his diocese, under CHAP.
pain of excommunication, to acknowledge the archbishop's ^J-^-l-
jurisdiction. Courtenay issued a mandate in opposition courtenay
thereto, requiring submission to his authority. The bishop 1381-96-
appealed to the pope, and affixed his appeal to the
gates of his cathedral. The archbishop, notwithstanding,
proceeded in his visitation, and cited the bishop to appear
before him and answer to certain articles exhibited against
him. The citation was despatched by one of the arch
bishop's officers, named Peter Hill, who, being met by
some of the Bishop of Exeter's servants in the town of
Topsham, they, discovering his business, not only beat him
most unmercifully, but obliged the poor fellow to chew
and swallow the instrument, which was of parchment, wax
and all. The king, being informed of this violence, sent
an order to the Earl of Devonshire and others to appre
hend the bishop's servants, and bring them before the
•rchbishop ; which being done, Courtenay enjoined them
the following penance : — They were to walk in procession
before the cross, in their shirts only, and carrying lighted
taprrs in their hands ; to pay a certain stipend to a
priest for saying daily mass at the tomb of the Earl of
Devonshire ; and, lastly, to pay twenty shillings each
towards repairing the walls of the city of Exeter. The
bishop, in the meantime, prosecuted his appeal in the
Court of Rome ; but finding the archbishop's credit pre
vail there, and that the king likewise espoused his cause,
he thought it the most prudent course to withdraw his
appeal, and to acknowledge both his own offence and the
archbishop's j urisdiction.

The Bishop of Salisbury, when it came to his turn to be

MSS. Wharton.) From the penance enjoined by the archbishop on the
bishop's servant, we may infer that the opposition of Brantingham to
Courtenay originated in county politics.

374 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, visited, made no less resistance, but proceeded, as he thougl it,
— -^__- with more prudence and caution than the Bishop of Exeter.
cS^. He found means, by the payment of certain heavy fees, to
1381-96. procure from Pope Boniface an exemption of himself and h is
diocese from metropolitical visitation. With this privilege
of exemption he waited upon the archbishop at Croydon,
but met with an unexpected reception from that prelate.
The 'primate declared that the diocese of Salisbury he
should visit, any papal exemption notwithstanding ; lie
commanded the bishop to be ready to receive him, on a
certain day, in his cathedral church. The bishop, depeii' -
ing on his privilege, took no notice of this order ; and
when the archbishop began his visitation, he appealed to
the pope. The archbishop immediately excommunicated
him, and commenced a prosecution-at-law against him,
for endeavouring to withdraw himself from the subjection
he owed to the see of Canterbury. The Bishop of Salis
bury, terrified by this severity and the recent example
of his brother of Exeter, renounced his appeal, acknow
ledged the archbishop's jurisdiction, and, through the
intercession of the Earl of Salisbury and others, obtained
absolution and reconciliation.

The opposition to the archbishop may be attributed
in part to an unconstitutional act of which he had been
guilty, though with a good intention. We have men
tioned the annoyances caused by procurations, with
reference to which many canonical regulations were made.
Courtenay thought it desirable to have a fixed payment, and
applied to the pope for permission to levy a rate upon all
ecclesiastical benefices of fourpence in the pound, to defray
the expenses of the visitation. This application to the
pope Avas in direct violation of an Act of Parliament ; but
as the clergy only were concerned in this affair, and as the
money did not go out of the country, the government did
not interfere. The unconstitutional conduct of the arch-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 375

bishop, however, might be used as a pretext, by those who CHAP.
were disposed to oppose him on the ground of an old dis- _SL_^
pensation, of which we have heard before. The Bishop of Courtenay.
Lincoln did indeed appeal to the pope, but the primate 1381-96-
had taken care to make his ground good in that quarter.
We still possess the letter he wrote to Pope Urban, in
1384. In this letter he complains that several of his
suffragans, and the Bishop of Exeter in particular, in vio
lation of their oath of canonical obedience, had resisted
and oppugned the right of their metropolitan to visit
their respective dioceses ; and that they pleaded papal
exemptions, which did not, of course, exist ; for that to
the diocese of Lincoln had been recalled as having been
illegal from the beginning. He entreated the pope not
to interfere with the rights of the church of Canterbury, or
to interpose between a metropolitan and his suffragans.
Being well aware, however, of the weak side of the
apostolic see, he took care that his letter should be
transmitted in a box full of florins.*

He not only carried his point against the Bishop of
Excter,f but he so established his authority at Koine, that
he obtained a bull from the pope, in 1380, permitting
him to present to all benefices which, owing to their
having remained unfilled for a considerable time, had
lapsed to the pope.

In 1391 the archbishop published his constitution
against choppe-churches. From this I shall present the
reader with an extract, because it Avas evidently composed
by Courtenay himself ; and it is desirable to show, that
although Courtenay did not go, like Wiclif, to the root of
the evil, he was equally desirous of correcting abuses. When
doing so he was evidently under the influence of religious
principles. The document appears in the form of a

* Ex. Keg. Courtenay, fol. 112. f Ibid. fol. 113.

376 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, mandatory addressed by the archbishop to his sufFni!_i;iii>,
— ^ • ' in the usual way, through the Bishop of London. a Some
ourtenay. men's minds," he remarks,

1381-96.

are so darkened and smitten with outward things as never
to look inward to themselves, or to Him that is invisible, while
they are puffed up with temporal honours, still desiring more,
slighting the ways of God. Some traffic with the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, while they pay or make private simoniacal contracts
for churches and ecclesiastical benefices, forgetting the words of
Peter to Simon, " Thy money perish with thee, because," &c.
Others of these tare-sowers, perverters of right, inventors of
mischief, commonly called choppe-churches, defraud some by
an unequal change of benefices through their wicked intriguing
and execrable thirst of gain, and sometimes wholly deprive
others of the benefices they have through false colours ; inso
much that, being reduced from an opulent to a poor condition,
and not being able to dig, they die of grief, or else are com
pelled to beg through extreme poverty, to the scandal of the
Church and clergy. Others, though " they who serve at th(
altar should live by the altar," &c., according to the Apostle,
procure persons to be presented to churches with cure and
ecclesiastical benefices by importunity and money, and to be
instituted therein, after having first wickedly sworn that so
long as they have those benefices they will claim no profits
from them, nor any way dispose of them, but leave them to
their direction and profit (who procured them) under pretence
of an exchange, or purely at their request. By which means
(whereas one church ought to belong to one priest, and no one
ought to have several dignities or parish churches) one man,
insufficient for one cure, though a small one, sweeps to himself
by a trick the profits of many benefices, which, if equally dis
tributed, would abundantly suffice for many learned and very
reputable men who very much want it. Divine worship and
hospitality is neglected ; the indevotion of the people toward
the church, and them who belong to it, is increased, and the
cure of souls is not minded. Such carnal men despise spiritual
precepts, and affect temporal riches in contempt of eternal
rewards. But it were to be wished that, for their own amend-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 377

meiit, they would be afraid of punishment, by considering how CHAP,
the Redeemer of mankind cast the chapmen out of the temple, ^_x ^^
savinff, " Make not My Father's house a house of merchandise." William

Courtenay.

Our Lord never dealt so severely with any offenders, to demon- 1381-96.
strate that other sinners ought to be reprehended, but these to
he driven far from the Church. Farther, some raptors rather
than rectors of churches, shepherds who know not and take no
care of their flocks, provoke the divine indignation, neglecting
hospitality without cause, shamefully spend their time at
London, devouring Christ's patrimony, living daintily on the
bread of the hungry, clothing themselves with the garments of
the naked, and with the ransom of captives; they dare not say
with the prophet, " The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance ;"
but rather, "We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways."
Win Teas, therefore, the cure of souls is our chief concern,
of which we are to give a strict account, and resolving not any
longer to connive at so great a scandal of the clergy of the
Church of England, and so perilous and pernicious an example,
at the importunate request of many, we give it in charge, and
command you, my brother, in virtue of obedience, and do will
and command that the rest of my suffragans and fellow-bishops
of our province of Canterbury be enjoined by you to take
corporal oaths of all whatsoever that are to be presented to
ecclesiastical benefices, now or hereafter to be void within your
dioceses, that they have not given, or promised anything, directly
or indirectly, by themselves, or by any employed by them, foi
l-he presentation to the presenter or any other persons what
soever ; and that neither they nor their friends are obliged by
oath, or any pecuniary security, to resign or make exchange of
the benefices ; and that no unlawful compact hath been made
in this respect, nor promise, with their will and knowledge ; and
that in case of exchange, no proxies, though signed by notaries,
be allowed without the presence of the principals, and a pro
vident examination of the equality as to the value of the
benefices, and an oath given by each party that no fraud,
private or public, is used in the exchange ; and that the non
residents in your dioceses be effectually called home to do their
duty ; and the simoniacal possessors, or rather usurpers of
churches, be severely censured ; and that the accursed partakers

378 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, with Grehazi and Simon, the " choppe-churches," who chiefly are
XVI- at London, be in general admonished to desist from such pro-
curings, changings, and trickings made in their conventicles
and simoniacal assemblies for the future ; and let them quash
and cancel all contracts and bargains fraudulently made, though
confirmed with oaths, which in this case are null ; and let all
such frauds and simoniacal contracts, which are not in their
power to break, be discovered to the bishop of the dioceses in
which such benefices as are concerned in the transaction do lie,
that they, by whose procurement or consent these contracts
were made, may be enjoined penance according to their merits
under pain of the greater excommunication after fifteen days'
notice (five days being allowed after each of the three usual
admonitions), which we pass upon them by this writing fron
this time forward, as well as from that time forward. And d)
ye strictly enjoin, and cause other bishops to be so enjoined,
that these wicked merchants of the Lord's inheritance, and
such as have several dignities, churches, and " choppe-churches,r'
be struck with the sword of ecclesiastical censure, especially
such of them as are in orders, as being universally abhorred b}'
all, lest by the neglect of you and other bishops this clamour be
again repeated in our ears. And do ye cause us to be certified
of what you have done in the premises before the feast of St.
Michael the Archangel next ensuing, by your letters-patent,
containing a copy of these presents. Dated in our manor of
Slyndon, on the fifth day of March in the -year of our Lord
1391, and of our translation the eleventh.*

The schism in the Eoman Church still continued.
There were still two popes. As we have before had
occasion to state, Urban VI. was acknowledged as pope
by England and the greater part of the Empire ;
Clement VII. was the pope of France, Spain, Scotland,
Sicily, and Cyprus. Urban had disappointed the high
expectations entertained by many at his election ; and,
under great provocation doubtless, became tyrannical

* Spelinan, ii. G41. Wilkins, iii. 215.

ARCIIBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 379

and cruel. His cardinals, acting under the advice of a CHAP.
celebrated casuist, Bartolomeo di Piacenza, resolved to
seize his person, and to consign the papal government
to certain commissioners to be selected from their own
body : a proceeding analogous to that which was adopted
in England with reference to Edward II. and Richard II.
But it was found, in all these cases, that the sovereign
was too powerful for a commission, and that nothing less
than his deposition would suffice. The cardinals, therefore,
determined to seize the person of Urban, and, according
to Gobelinus, to try the pope for heresy and to deliver him
to the flames.*

But Urban discovered the conspiracy. Six of the
cardinals he seized, and having subjected them to the
torture, he dragged them as his prisoners, when lie fled
from Nocera to Genoa, where with one exception they
were never heard of more. The exception was made
in favour of Adam Eston, an English cardinal, in whose
behalf the King of England interposed, — an interposition
which, in the then state of his affairs, the pope did not
venture to resist. Of the others, whether they were
strangled or thrown into the sea in sacks, will not be known
till the day of judgment. These things occurred at the
end of the year 138G. We can easily understand how
the report of the proceedings when brought to England
strengthened the anti-papal party,and influenced Courtenay
himself.

Urban died in 1380. Instead of seeking at once, how
ever, to terminate the schism by coming to terms with Pope
Clement VII., the cardinals at Rome proceeded to elect as
their pope Peter Tomacelli, a young man of Naples. He

* Dollinger, 137. Theoderic of Nicin denies the conspiracy of the
cardinals, who, with one exception, he asserts, even under the agony of
torture, refused to criminate themselves. If this be true, the cruelty of
Urban was the greater. See Floury, 1. xviii. § 20, 21.

380 LIVES OF TIIE

•

CHAP, assumed the title of Boniface IX. He was endowed with

X VT

- . ' . ^ good natural abilities, and was fluent in speedi ; but

\ \ ' ' 1 1 "

omJn^. according to his secretary, Theoderic of Niem, lie could
1381-96. neither write nor sing, nor was he acquainted with any
science except that of grammar. He was as remarkable for
his avarice as he was for his ignorance.* The claims on
him were, indeed, many and great. The churches of
Rome were in a state of dilapidation, and the Castle of
St. Angelo was in ruins. His kinsfolk were poor and
clamorous; and the demands upon his treasury for the
support of his faction, or in furtherance of his schemes of
ambition, were incessant. His predecessor had planned
a jubilee as the means of replenishing his exhausted
treasury. From a hundred years the jubilee had been
reduced to fifty ; and now, with an hypocritical sentiment,
out of regard to the supposed duration of our Lords
humiliation, it was to be held every thirty-third year.f

Notwithstanding the perils of the journey, pilgrims —
influenced by a feeling of piety, by party zeal, and by u
determination to support Boniface, in opposition to the
French pope — flocked to Rome. The papal coffers were
filled ; and yet for money there was an increasing demand
The necessary supplies were obtained by annates, J b}

* Theoderic of Niem, ii. G. See also Dollinger, 138.

f See Spondanus, ad. An. 1389.

J Annates were the profits of one year of every vacant bishopric in
England, claimed at first by the pope, upon a pretence of defending
the Christians from the infidels, and paid by every bishop at his acces
sion, before he could receive his investiture from Rome. Afterwards
the pope prevailed on all those who were spiritual patrons to oblige
their clerks to pay these annates, and so by degrees they became pay
able by the clergy in general. Some of our historians tell us that Pope
Clement was the first who claimed annates in England, in the reign of
Edward I. ; but Selden, in a short account which he has given us of
the reign of William Rufus, affirms that they were claimed by the pope
before that reign. Chronologers differ also about the time when they

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 381

the sale of expectatives, by commendams, by the sale CHAP.
of temporal honours and emoluments to Italian barons, by -
simoniacal transactions — at first conducted with caution courtenay.
and in secret, but afterwards with scandalous and defiant
publicity.

By Boniface was established the precedent of an in
discriminate sale of plenary indulgences, such as led,
at length, to the Lutheran Eeformation. His emissaries
appeared in England, to offer for money to those who
stayed at home the same privileges which had been
acquired by those who had kept the jubilee as pilgrims
at Home. Confession and penance were not imposed : a
money payment was all that was required. By the side
of the altar, in all the chief churches, a table was spread,
covered with scarlet cloth, where the unholy traffic was
carried on. Among the better educated, some were
afraid of exposing themselves to ridicule, and others of
incurring the suspicions of the government, by openly
transacting business with the papal emissary. To meet
the convenience, therefore, of those who wished to deal
with him in private, the residence of the functionary
was indicated by the papal arms suspended over his
doorway, with a private entrance, we presume, round the
corner.

The English government was vigilant. It was aware
that the election of a new pope might afford a pretext for
evading the various anti-papal Acts that had been passed
in the late reign ; and consequently the Statute of Provisors
was confirmed by parliament with this additional clause :

became a settled duty. Platina asserts that Boniface IX., who was
pope in the first year of Henry IV., Annatarum mum beneficiis ecclesias-
ticis primum imposuit(\\z.~} dimidium anmii proventus fisco apostolico per-
solvere. Walsingham affirms it to be above eighty years before that
time, viz. in the time of Pope John XXII., who was pope about the
middle of the reign of Edward II., and that he reservavit camera siite
primos fructus benejicwru'i/.

382 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. It is ordained and established that if any man bring or

, _xyij ^ send within the realm, or the king's power, any summons,

William sentence, or excommunication against any person, of what con-

iwi-96.' dition soever he be, for the cause of making motion, assent, or

execution of the said Statute of Provisors, he shall be
arrested, and put in prison, and forfeit all his lands and tene
ments, goods and chattels for ever, and incur the pain of life
and member. And if any prelate make execution of such
summons, sentences, or excommunications that his temporalities
be taken and abide in the king's hands till due redress and cor
rection be thereof made. And if any person of less estate than
a prelate, of what condition that he be, make such execution,
he shall be taken, arrested, and put in prison, and have irr-
prisonment, and make fine and ransom by the discretion of the
King's Council.*

The time had been, when such a measure as this would
have met with the enthusiastic support of Courtenay ;
but the times were changed, and the alarm occasioned by
the excesses of the Lollards and by the late insurrectioi
had produced a considerable reaction in many minds.
The primate, with the Archbishop of York, thought it ex
pedient to qualify their acceptance of the additional clause
by asserting, that they did not, by its acceptance, intend
to interfere with any legitimate authority of the pope.
Many persons also repaired to Borne, under pretext of
keeping the jubilee, who advised the pope to protest
against the renewal of the Statute of Provisors ; and, in
short, symptoms of what would now be called an Ultra
montane spirit began to display themselves. The conse
quence of this was a royal proclamation, commanding
the return to England, on or before the Feast of St.
Martin, the llth of November, under pain of forfeiting
estate and life, of all persons, who had dared to go to
Home for the purpose of devising measures for rendering

* 13 Ric. II., stat. 2, cap. 3. Gibson, Codex Jur. Eccles. i. 85.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 383

null any of the divers statutes made by the king and the
parliament for the common benefit of his kingdom.*

While the government was thus acting with dignity,
consistency, and firmness, the archbishop received a letter
from the new pope — if pope he was, — entreating and
imploring him to obtain for him a subsidy from the
clergy of the Church of England. To the clergy them
selves, soon after, a pathetic appeal was also addressed.

How changed were the principles and character of
Courtenay ! Under the influence, no doubt, of strong
party feeling, when lie was Bishop of Hereford he de
nounced the exactions of the Court of Rome ; lie threat
ened to stop the supplies to the home government, if it
did not protect the clergy from the double taxation to
which they were exposed, when subsidies were demanded
of them, nol; by the king only but also by the pope. A
pope at Avignon and a pope at Home were, however, two
different things. But still the conscience of Courtenay
must have accused him of inconsistency when, though he
showed no zeal in the cause, he permitted some measures
to be adopted for furthering the designs of the pope. His
conscience was quickened, when lie received a significant
notice from the government, in the shape of a letter
written in the king's name. In this lie was reminded
that the king had lately renewed his coronation oath,
according to the terms of which, he was bound to main
tain the customs of the kingdom, to govern according to
law, to preserve inviolate the rights of property, and to
take precaution that no rates or taxes should be levied on
the people without the consent of parliament. An address
had been presented to the king by the last parliament,
petitioning him to protect the clergy from the exactions
of the Court of Home, and to treat as a traitor to himself

* Rot. Clans. 14 Ric. II. on 13 Dors, de Proclumatione.

384 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and his kingdom anyone who should bring into the

^— Vr~-~x country papal bulls, for the purpose of levying such im-

Courtenay. positions or of setting on foot any uncustomary practices.

96> To these petitions the king had given assent, and they were

now the law of the land. The royal rescript proceeds to

state, that, notwithstanding this legal provision, the king

had been informed of a new papal imposition upon the

clergy, levied without the common advice and consent of

the kingdom, but by the authority of the archbishop aid

his suffragans. The king then commands the archbishop,

upon his allegiance and under the highest forfeitures, to

revoke any orders he may have issued for the levying of

this tax, to return any money that had been already paid,

and not, himself, to contribute any tiling to the subsidy.41

We become aware, incidentally, that, whether willingly
or not, the archbishop yielded obedience to the royal man
date. For, notwithstanding his urgent and pathetic appeal
to the bishops and clergy of the Church of England, th<»
pope only received a subscription of 1,515 florins, equal
to £252 12s. M.

Not only had there been a change in Courtenay himself.
-I do not say of principle, for he was a man of impulse
and expediency rather than of fixed principles — there had
also been gradually effected a change in the position of
the primate, as such, in relation to the government. Arch
bishop Courtenay, belying the antecedents of his history,
was now suspected of an inclination to abet the pope in
his encroachments on the Church and State of England.
The consequence was that he was induced, at the next
parliament, to make the following declaration : —

To our dread sovereign lord the king, in this present par
liament, his humble chaplain William, Archbishop of Can-

* Rot. Glaus. 13 Ric. II. pt. 1. M. 17. De decimis Papas non
tollendis.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURV. 385

terbury, gives in his answer to the petition brought into the CHAP,
parliament by the commons of the realm, in which petition XVI-
are contained certain articles ; William

That is to say, first : Whereas, our sovereign lord the king,
and all his liege subjects, ought of right, and had been always
accustomed to sue in the king's court, to recover their pre
sentations to churches, to maintain their titles to prebends,
and other benefices of Holy Church, to which they have a right
to present; the cognisance of which plea belongs solely to the
court of our sovereign lord the king, by virtue of his ancient,
prerogative, maintained and practised in the reigns of all his
predecessors Kings of England. And when judgment is given
in his highness' said court upon any such plea, the archbishops,
bishops, and other spiritual persons, who have the right of
giving institution within their jurisdiction, are bound to execute
such judgments, and used always to make execution of them at
the king's command (since no lay person can make any such
execution); and are also bound to make execution of many
other commands of our lord the king ; of which right the Crown
of England has been all along peaceably possessed; but now of
late divers processes have been made by the holy father the
pope, and excommunications published against several English
bishops for making such executions, and acting in pursuance to
the king's commands in the cases above mentioned ; and that
such censures of his holiness are inflicted in open disherison of
the crown and subversive of the prerogative royal of the king's
laws and his whole realm unless prevented by proper remedies.

To this article the archbishop, premising his protesta
tion,

that it was none of his intention to affirm our holy father the
pope has no authority to excommunicate a bishop pursuant to
the laws of Holy Church, declares and answers, that if any exe
cutions of processes are made, or shall be made by any person ;
if any censures of excommunication shall be published and
served upon any English bishops, or any other of the king's
subjects, for their having made execution of any such com
mands, he maintains such censures to be prejudicial to the
king's prerogative, as it is set forth in the commons' petition ;
VOL. IV. C C

386 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and that so far forth he is resolved to stand with our lord the
^ I- king, and support his crown in the matters above mentioned, to
^William his power.

1381-96!' And likewise, whereas it is said in the petition, that com
plaint has been made, that the said holy father the pope had
designed to translate some English prelates to sees out of tie
realm, and some from one bishopric to another, without tie
knowledge and consent of our lord the king, and without the
assent of the prelates so translated (which prelates are ve*y
serviceable and necessary to our lord the king and his whole
realm), which translations, if they should be suffered, the
statutes of the realm would be defeated, and made, in a gre;it
measure, insignificant, and the said lieges of his highness'
council would be removed out of his kingdom without the r
assent and against their inclination, and the treasure of the said
realm would be exported, by which means the country would
become destitute, both of wealth and council, to the utter
destruction of the said realm ; and thus the crown of Englanc ,
which has always been so free and independent as not to hav?
any earthty sovereign, but to be immediately subject to God in
all things touching the prerogatives and royalty of the said
crown, should be made subject to the pope, and the laws and
statutes of the realm defeated and set aside by him at pleasure
to the utter destruction of the sovereignty of our lord the king,
his crown and royalty, and his whole kingdom, which God forbid
The said archbishop, first protesting that it is not hi;
intention to affirm that our holy father aforesaid cannot make-
translations of prelates according to the laws of Holy Church,
answers and declares that if any English prelates, who, by
their capacity and qualification, were very serviceable and neces
sary to our lord the king, and his realm, if any such prelate?
were translated to any sees in foreign dominions, or the sage
lieges of his council were forced out cf the kingdom against
their will, and that by this means the wealth and treasure of
the kingdom should be exported ; in this case the archbishop
declares that such translations would be prejudicial to the king
and his crown ; for which reason, if anything of this should
happen, he resolves to adhere loyally to the king, and en
deavour, ;u; he is bound by his allegiance, to support his high-

OF CANTERBURY.

ness in this and all other instances in which the rights of his CHAP

crown are concerned. And lastly, he prayed the king this XVI.

schedule might be made a record, and entered upon the Par- William
liament roll, which the king granted.

This declaration of the archbishop is the more remark
able, when we find the words used to be the very words
employed in the Statute of Prammnire, which was con
firmed, renewed, and completed in this parliament. We
are not indeed obliged to defend the consistency of Arch
bishop Courtenay, but it is pleasant to record, that he was
one of those who assisted in carrying the most important
anti-papal Act of Parliament that was ever passed, anterior
to the reign of Henry VIII. It is probable that this Act
was passed at this time, because it was known, that in the
letter of Gregory XI to Archbishop Courtenay, the pope
had ventured to speak of the anti-papal Acts of Parliament
as null and void.* To this important Act we shall have
occasion so frequently to refer that tlie reader is here pre
sented witli its chief provisions :—

Whereas the Commons of the Realm in this present Par
liament have showed to our redoubted lord the king, grievously
complaining, that whereas the said our lord the king and all his
liege people ought of right, and of old time were wont, to sue
in the king's court, to recover their presentments to churches,
prebends, and other benefice:-! of Holy Church to the which
they had right to present, tin* conisance of plea of which pre
sentment helongeth only to the king's court of the old right of
his crown, used and approved in the time of all his progenitors
kings of England ; and when judgment shall be given in the
same court upon such a plea and presentment, the archbishops,
bishops, and other spiritual persons which have institution of
such benefices within their Jurisdiction be bound and have made

•J

execution of such judgments by the king's commandments, of all
the time aforesaid without interruption, (for another lay person

M&. in Brit. Museum.

388 LIVES OF THE

CHAP cannot make such execution), and also be bound of right to
XVI. make execution of many other of the king's commandments,

^William' of which right the Crown of England hath been peaceably
geige^ as well in the time of our lord the king that now is as
in the time of all his progenitors till this day. But now of late
divers processes be made by the Bishop of Rome, and censures
of excommunication upon certain Bishops of England, because
they have made execution of such commandments, to the open
disherison of the said crown and destruction of our said lord
the king, his law, and all his realm, if remedy be not provided.
And also it is said, and a common clamour is made, that thi
said Bishop of Rome hath ordained and purposed to translate
some prelates of the same realm without the king's assent and
knowledge, and without the assent of the prelates which so
shall be translated, which prelates be much profitable and
necessary to our said lord the king, and to all his realm : by
which translations (if they should be suffered) the statutes o:'
the realm should be defeated and made void, and his said liege
sages of his council, without his assent and against his will,
carried away and gotten out of his realm ; and the substance
and treasure of the realm shall be carried away, and so the
realm destitute as well of counsel as of substance, to the final
destruction of the same realm. And so the Crown of England,
which hath been so free at all times, that it hath been in no
earthly subjection, but immediately subject to Gfod in all things
touching the regal ty of the same crown, and to none other,
should be submitted to the pope ; and the laws and statutes of
the realm by him defeated and avoided at his will, in perpetual
destruction of the sovereignty of the king our lord, his crown,
his regalty, and of all his realm, which God defend.

And, moreover, the commons aforesaid say, that the said
things so attempted be clearly against the king's crown and his
regalty, used and approved of the time of all his progenitors.
Wherefore they and all the liege commons of the same realm
will stand with our said lord the king, and his said crown,
and his regalty in the cases aforesaid, and in all other cases
attempted against him, his crown, and his regalty in all points
to live and to die. And, moreover, they pray the king and him
require, by way of justice, that he would examine all the lords

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 389

in parliament, as well spiritual as temporal severally, and all CHAP,
the states of the parliament, how they think of the cases afore- XVL _
said which be so openly against the king's crown, and in dero- William
gation of his regalty, and how they will stand in the same
cases with our lord the king in upholding the rights of the said
crown and regalty. Whereupon the lords temporal so demanded
have answered every one by himself, that the cases aforesaid be
clearly in derogation of the king's crown and of his regalty, as
it is well known, and hath been of a long time known, and
that they will be with the same crown and regalty in these
cases specially, and in all other cases which shall be attempted
against the same crown and regalty in all points with all their
power. And, moreover, it was demanded of the lords spiritual
there being, and the procurators of others being absent, their
advice and will in all these cases, which lords, that is to say, the
archbishops, bishops, and other prelates being in the said Par
liament severally examined, making protestations that it is not
their mind to deny nor affirm that the Bishop of Rome may not
excommunicate bishops, nor that he may make translation of
prelates after the law of Holy Church, answered and said : That
if any executions of processes made in the king's court (as
before) be made by any, and censures of excommunication to
be made against any bishops of England, or any other of the
king's liege people, for that they have made execution of such
commandments ; and that if any executions of such trans
lations be made of any prelates of the same realm, which
prelates be very profitable and necessary to our said lord the
king and to his said realm, or that the sage people of his
council, without his assent and against hi.s will, be removed and
carried out of the realm, so that the substance and treasure of
Ihe realm may be consumed, that the same is against the king
and his crown, as it is contained in the petition before named,
And likewise the same procurators, every one by himself ex
amined upon the said matters, have answered and said in the
name, and for their lords, as the said bishops have said and
answered, and that the said lords spir/itual will and ought to be
with the king in these cases in lawfully maintaining of his
crown, and in all other causes touching .his crown and his regalty
as they be bound by their allegiance. Whereupon our said

LIVES OF THE

CHAP. l°rfl tue king, by the assent aforesaid, and at the request of bis
_^VI_ said commons, hath ordained and established, that if any pur-
William chase, or pursue, or cause to be purchased or pursued,- in the
Vssi-OG Court of Rome or elsewhere, by any such translations, processes,
and sentences of excommunications, bulls, instruments, or any
other things whatsoever which touch the king, against him, his
crown, and his regalty or his realm as is aforesaid, and they
which bring within the realm, or them receive, or make thereof
notification, or any other execution whatsoever within the same
realm or without, that they, their notaries, procurators, maiE-
tainers, abettors, fautors, and counsellors, shall be put out of
the king's protection, and their lands and tenements, goods and
chattels forfeit to our lord (lie king ; and that they be attached
by their bodies, if they may be found, and brought before th?
king and his council, there to answer to the cases aforesaid. 0 *
that process be made against them by Praemunire facias in
manner as it is ordained in other statutes of provisoes : and
other which do sue in any other court in derogation of the
regalty of our lord the king. 5

We see something of the old spirit revived in Courteiiay
on another occasion, when he iirmly maintained the right
of the Church of England to tax itself, — a right only
renounced in the reign of Charles II. When the parlia
ment proposed to vote the king a fifteenth, on condition
that the clergy would grant a tenth, or a half, the arch
bishop opposed the motion. He said that the Church of
England was a free church, that her liberties had been
guaranteed to her by parliament as well as by kings, and
that he would rather die than suffer her to be reduced to
a state of bondage. The Lollards seem to have been
strong in the House of Commons, and the resistance of
the archbishop provoked them almost to fury. They
called upon the king to humble the clergy, by abolishing
the temporalities of the Church ; and many of the leaders,
making sure of carrying their point, began to calculate

* 16 Ric. II. cap. 6. Gibson's Codex, i. §6.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 391

on their share of the spoil. But the king or his govern- CHAP.
ment declared, that it was his determination to uphold
the Church of England, and to hand it down to his
successors in a condition as good as, or better than, the 1381-96
condition in which it had come to him. The arch
bishop, after this, summoned a convocation, where a tenth
was unanimously voted. The king affirmed, that he was
better pleased with this subsidy freely voted than he
could have been by a subsidy of four times the amount
voted by compulsion.

Courtenay showed the same determination and firmness
at Canterbury, where he resisted the attempts of the civil
authorities to extend their jurisdiction into the precincts
of the cathedral ; and he threatened to place the city
under an interdict, if the magistrates interfered in eccle
siastical affairs. He prohibited the sergeants of the city
from bearing their maces within the precincts, since this
innovation on their part was with the object of establish
ing their authority there, in defiance of the privileges of
the Church.

All these little things let us into a view of the very
disturbed and unsatisfactory state of affairs throughout
the country ; all things were ripening for the revolution
which was soon to take place. The resistance which the
archbishop met at Canterbury was, comparatively speaking,
slight. He had greater difficulty at Eomney. There the
Lollard spirit was rife. The magistrates "intermeddled
with church business." He nevertheless, as the record
says, u compelled that unadvised town to submit."'

But, notwithstanding his firmness, the primate preserved
his popularity to the last, as was testified by the manner
in which, at his death, he was universally mourned.
He was a man of simple tastes, as is so frequently
the case with an aristocrat, and so seldom with the

* Hasted, 33?,

392 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, nouveau riche. His mind often reverted to the days of his
-^ , ..' •> happy childhood in Devonshire ; and he probably wished
o™enTy. that he had not permitted ambition to call him from his
1381-96. peacefui residence in that lovely county. His manors
of Maidstone and of Slindon, near Chichester, were his
favourite homes, and to Maidstone he was a considerable
benefactor. He rebuilt the hospital which had been esta
blished there by Archbishop Boniface, and converted it
into a college of secular priests. In a codicil to his will
he gave the residue of his property, after the payment of
his debts and legacies, to the erection of the collegiate
church.* He repaired the church at Meopham, and he
added five scholarships to Canterbury College, Oxford.

At Canterbury he gave £266 13s. 4d. towards repairing
the walls of the precincts, within which he obtained,
through a grant from Richard II., the establishment of foil .*
fairs. He rebuilt the lodgings and kitchen belonging to
the infirmary, at a cost of £133 6s. 8d. He expended £2(>
in making a new glass window in the nave of the cathedral
in honour of St. Elphege ; and £200 in building the south
side of the cloister. He gave to the high altar an image
of the Holy Trinity, with six of the Apostles in silver-gilt,
valued at £340, together with a rich cope, said to have been
worth the fabulous sum of £300. He raised a subscrip
tion for rebuilding the nave of the cathedral, to which
the king contributed one thousand pounds, and the arch
bishop himself a thousand marks.

The observance of two festivals was appointed by
the primate — the Feast Tof St. Ann. the mother of the
Blessed Virgin, and the feast of the Virgin'-*, own nativity. f

Courtenay was not a man of a vigorous constitution, and

* Somner, p. 135 ; pt. ii. p. 75. See also Leland's Itinerary, vol. vi.
f. 2, p. 2.

f He probably altered the character of the celebration of these
leasts, which are of earlier date.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 393

the annoyances, difficulties, and heavy responsibili ties of his CHAP.
high office told upon him, making him prematurely old. ^-L^--—
He was seized with his last illness at Maidstone in July courtenaV.
1396. When he felt his end approaching he called for 1381-96-
his will and added a codicil. He had intended at an earlier
period of life to lie, at his death, with his ancestors, and
to be buried in Exeter Cathedral. In his codicil, however,
he stated that he did not consider himself worthy to be
buried in his own or in any cathedral or collegiate church ;
and he therefore directed that he should be privately
interred in the churchyard of Maidstone. He designated
the spot — in the grave of his esquire, John Boteler.

On the 31st July, 1396, Courtenay died. Preparations
were immediately made for carrying the archbishop's
directions, as to his funeral, into effect. There still exists
in the pavement of the chancel in Maidstone church a
large slab, eleven feet live inches long by four feet two
and a half inches wide, which, as a learned antiquary *
remarks, manifestly demonstrates, by the still existing
indentations, that an archbishop's cross with canopy and
other ornaments once occupied the surface. Until the
commencement of the present century it formed the tablet
of an altar-tomb. On this spot it is supposed that
Courtenay 's body lay in state, immediately after his death,
with the full intention that his obsequies would be there
completed as by himself directed ; but it was ordered
otherwise. The chapter of Canterbury, however, and the
people in general, were determined to do all honour to the
late primate. The king, happening to be at Canterbury
at the time, overruled the codicil, and decreed that the
body should be brought to Canterbury. There the obse
quies were performed in the presence of the king, of the

* Herbert Smith, Esq., to whose interesting notes on brasses formerly
existing in Dover Castle, Maidstone, and Ashford Churches, in the
Arcbaeologia Cantiana, vol i.. I am indebted for these statements.

394 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, principal nobility, of the bishops, abbots, and clergy, and

_^-L_- a thousand spectators. It was a public funeral conducted

oIrtenTy. on a sca^e of great magnificence.*

1381-96. Although Courtenay died comparatively a young man,
he had, as we have seen, taken the precaution to make
his will. That will is still in existence ; and as it throws
light on the testator's character and the manners of the
age, I translate certain portions of it. It will be seen
that he had determined to be buried in the city of r is
native county, before lie added the codicil of which
mention has just been made : —

I will that my body be buried as quickly as may convenient y
be possible, in the nave of the Cathedral Church of Exeter,
in the place where now lie three deans in a row, before the high
cross, not to imitate in this respect great lords, but only as a
bishop or those nearer. And I will that the bishop of the place
bury me, unless there shall come my venerable brother Thoma.;,
by the grace of God Archbishop of York, Primate of Englanc ,
according to the mutual agreement between us. In which event
I beg my confrere the Bishop of Exeter for the time being, and
all of his church and diocese, for reverence of God and Hi;
Church and help of my prayers, to show him all reverence,
honour, and humanity. I will that those three deans who shal
have been removed by reason of my burial may be buried ir
some other honourable part of the same church, entirely at mj
charge and expense. Also I will that at my burial there be

* Thorn. Col. 2193, states that Courteuay was entombed near the
shrine of St. Thomas. The following entry is made in the obituary
kept by the monks of Christ Church from 1486 to 1507, being an an
cient parchment marked D 12 — 2. It is kept among other MSS. of the
Dean and Chapter of Canterbury : " Anno Domini M°CCC°LXXXX°VI
ultimo mensis Julii feria ij obiit recolendas memoriae Dominus Willelmus
Cortenay Arcliiepiscopus Cantuaria? in manerio suo de Maydyston circa
horam nonam diei ; cujus corpus feria quinta sequenti delatum eat
Cantuariam, et in pracsentia Ricardi Regis incliti secundi, et multorum
magnatum praslatorum comitum et baronum, ad pedes domini Edwardi
principis Wallias patris praefati domini regis Ricardi, juxta feretrum
Sancti Thomas ex parte australi, honorifice traditur sepultura?.''

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 395

seven torches, one at the head and the other at the feet burning CHAP,
around my body, and that each of them be of twenty pounds ^VI-
weight. Also I will that forty candles be lighted on that day, William
&c., two for the use of the altar where my most reverend 1*38 I^B
parents are buried, and four candles for the parish church of St.
Martin of Exmynster, where I was born. Also I will that for
my soul, &c., fifteen thousand masses be celebrated, &c. Also
I will that two thousand matins be said, &c. I bequeath to my
most excellent lord King Eichard my best cross and 100 pounds,
that he may be after my death my special lord, as he was in life
my most special lord. I beseech also my said most excellent,
dread, and trustworthy lord the king, by the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the most blessed Mary the Virgin His mother,
as well 'as Saint John Baptist and Saints Mary Magdalene and
Catherine, together with all saints, that lie deign to lend a
helping hand to my executors, that my successor may not injure
niyself or them, or seek anything more than is due fur repara
tions considering the state in which I found the church and my
manors together with my Castle of Saltwode, and in what
manner notwithstanding the earthquake — not without heavy and
costly expenses, as my prior knows, as well as the heads of the
chapter and the more influential persons of the whole diocese —
according to my power and opportunity I have repaired them, as
my executors will inform your highness, to whom may you
deign to incline your excellency's ear for love of Him who
in His poverty shut up bowels of compassion from no one.
Having confided in your justice and equity, may your will be
done. I bequeath also and leave to your most dread majesty
his most devoted servant and dearest intercessor and my only
sister Dungayne, beseeching humbly and devoutly that in this
vale of misery you may deign with intuitive affection to pre
serve, cherish, and protect her under the wings of your must
worthy protection. Also I leave to my sister aforesaid 200
pounds and my moderate-sized missal, &c. And my altar with
the white silken covering, together with the table of my lord of
Islip, and two silken coverings embroidered with popinjays, that
ehe may make ecclesiastical vestments out of them. Also my
portiforium which I had as a gift from my Lord Bishop of Win
chester, and two superior cruets of silver gilt and two other*.

306

LIVES OF THE

CHAP.
XVI.

William

Courtenay.

1381-90.

and 24 superior silver dishes, six garnati or chargers, 20 salt
cellars, and three superior pairs of spoons and two silver basins,
wfth the arms of Courtney, and a round golden cup made as it
were winged, which I had given me by my lord the king, £c.
Also I leave to the Lord Philip, my brother, 40 pounds, with a
superior gilt cup and cover, with one ewer. I leave to the Lord
Peter, my brother, 40 pounds. I leave to my sister, the Lady
Anne de Courtney, 20 pounds and one gilt cup, &c. I leave to
my most beloved son and pupil Eichard Courtney 100 marks,
and my best mitre in case he shall become a bishop, and my
book contained in three volumes, being a dictionary with a
calendar, in case he wish to be a clerk and be promoted to the
priesthood, as well as St. Augustine's " Milleloquium," and my
beautiful book called "Lira," contained in two volumes (sc.) for
his lifetime ; and I will that after his death the books aforesaid
may remain to the holy church of Canterbury after the manner of
a legacy. I leave to my little son — god-son — William Courtney,
the son of my brother the Lord Philip, 109 marks, &c. I lea\e
100 marks to be distributed among the other sons and daugh
ters of my brother the Lord Philip, &c. I leave to my metro
politan church a cope braided with pearls, and my green
vestment adorned with gold, with 7 copes. Also I leave 200
pounds and more according to the discretion of my executors,
and according to direction to be given by them for the nev
making or construction of one portion of the cloister fron
the door of the palace to the church extending in a straighl
course. I leave to the prior of my church at Canterbury m}
silver cup or bolla, desiring him to use it himself in remem
brance of me, and that his successors may use it in the same
manner.*

Legacies in money, plate, or vestments, were left to
the subprior, to the church of Rochester, and to his
nephew Hugh Lntterel. To Hugh Stafford something
was to be given at the discretion of his executors, who
are named.

There can be little doubt that the remains of Archbishop

* Batteley, Append. 32.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY.

Courtenay lie at Canterbury,* beneath the elaborate CHAP
monument there raised to his memory. Weever men- '

tions a tomb which had been prepared for Courtenay at
Maidstone, — a plain gravestone ; " a lowly tomb," he 1381-96
remarks, " for such a high-born prelate, — upon which
his portraiture is delineated, and this epitaph inlaid with
brasse about the verge : —

" Nomine Willelmus en Courtuaius reverendus,
Qui se post obitum legaverat hie tumulandum,
In presenti loco quern jam fundarat ab imo ;
Omnibus et sanctis titulo sacravit honoris.
Ultima lux Julii fit vita? terminus illi,
M. ter C. quinto decies nonoque sub anno.
Respice mortalis quis quondam, sed modo talis,
Quantus et iste fuit dum membra calentia gessit.
Hie Primas Pat-rum, Cleri Dux et genus altum,
Corpore valde decens, sensus et acumine clarens.
Filius hie comitis generosi Devoniensis.
Legum Doctor erat Celebris quern fama serenat.
Urbs Herdfordensis, Polis inchta Londoniensis,
Ac Dorobernensis, sibi trine gloria sedis
Detur honor digno fit Cancellarius ergo.
Sanctus ubique pater, prudens fuit ipse minister,
Nam largus, let us, castus, pins atque pudicus,
Magnanimus, Justus, et egenis totus amicus.
Et quia Rex Christ e Pastor bonus extitit iste,
Sum at solamen nunc tecum quesumus. Amen."f

On the strength of this inscription, Weevur supposed
that the archbishop's body lay there ; but when speaking
of the cathedral he observes : —

It was the custome of old, and so it is in these dayes, for men
of eminent ranke and qualitie to have tombes erected in more

* See ArchflBol. Cant. i. 179, where the whole subject is briefly
discussed.

f Weever, Funeral Monuments, %K).

398 LIVES or THE

CHAP, places than one ; for example and proofe of my speech, I iinde

. _XVI'_. here in this church a monument of alabaster, at the feete of the

William Blacke Prince, wherein, both by tradition and writing, it is

1381-96. affirmed that the bones of William Courtney (the sonne of

Hugh Courtnej7, the third of that Christian name, Earle of

Devonshire), archbishop of this see, lie entombed. And Ifinde

another, to the memory of the same man, at Maidstone here in

Kent/

Weever, Funeral Monuments, W5.

AP.CHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 399

CHAPTEE XVII.

THOMAS ARUXDEL.*

Family of Fitzalan. — House of Albini. — Richard, Earl of Arundel, a
distinguished man. — Thomas, his son. — Knightly education. — Arch
deacon of Taunton. — Conciliatory measures of the Pope. — Thomas
appointed by provision Bishop of Ely at twenty-two years of age. —
Enthronization. — His munificence. — History of Henry Spencer,
Bishop of Norwich. — Bishop of Ely's rebuke of the Earl of Suffolk. —
The Gloucester party. — Character of Richard II. — Meeting of Par
liament.— Conference at Eltham. — Arundel Lord Chancellor. — The
Appellant Ministry. — Arundel resigns the Great Seal. — Translated to
York. — Preaches the funeral sermon of the Queen. — Praises her
study of the Bible. — William of "Wykeham's able administration. —
Arundel a second time Chancellor. — Discontent at the removal of
the Court of Chancery to York.— rAuinI&. translated to Canterbury. -
Resigns the Great Seal.— Conciliatory policy of Arundel. — Treachery
of the King. — OppomfeiotT of the Earl of Arundel. — Arundel accused
of treason. — Banished. — Goes to Rome, and received with cordiality
by the Pope. — The King's letter to the Pope. — The Pope afraid to
befriend Arundel. — Translates him to St. Andrews. — YTalden ap
pointed to Canterbury. — Arundel declares the translation a nullity —
Retires to Florence. — Plans of revenge. — Exile of the Duke of Here
ford. — Arundel in communication with the Londoners. — His journey
from Utrecht to Paris. — Interview with Bolingbroke. — Lands at
Ravenspur with Bolingbroke. — Preaches Rebellion. — Attends Boling-

* Authorities: — Historia Eliensis ; Walsingham; Gower's Tripar
tite Chronicle ; Froissart ; Capgrave : Memorials of Henry V. ; Fas
ciculi Zizaniorum ; Dies Obituales ; Lambeth Register ; Monachus
Eveshamensis ; Eulogium Historiarum et Continuatio, edit. Haydon ;
Creton's Metrical Hist, in Arrhn?olo?ia. xx.

400 LIVES OF Tin:

broke to Chester. — Fearful perjuries on all sides. — The Archbishop
visits the King at Flint. — Interviews with Richard in London. — Ke-
signation and deposition of Richard. — Preaches before the Convention
Parliament. — Crowns Henry IV. — Resumes the office of Archbishop.
— Refuses to recognise Waldon. — Secular offices after the Revolution.
— Raises money for the Government. — Attacks made on Church
property by Lollards. — Antipapal legislation.— Manner of bestowing
high preferments in the Church. — Bianchini and Albini. — Controversy
with Oxford. — Proposal to exhume Wiclif. — State of parties. — Un
satisfactory condition of the country. — Statute " De Haeretico Cori-
burendo." — Proceedings against Sautree. — Trial of Badby. — Trial of
Oldcastle. — Arundel's statement of the case. — Death. — Will. — Inven
tory of his goods.

CHAP. THE family of Fitzalan descended from Alan, the son of
^— <-- Fleald or Flataldns a Xorman, who sought his fortune in
Arundei. England by following the standard of the Conqueror in
H9H~ 1^66. Alan had two sons. Walter, his second son, was
an adventurer like his father, and going into Scotland ,
he purchased of David, the king of that country, the officB
of grand-steward. Hence, of the royal family of Stuart ho
was the progenitor.* William, adopting his patronymic,
called himself Fitzalan, and inherited his father's honours ;
being possessed of the castle of Madoc, at Meredith, ii
Wales, with the lordship of Oswaldestre in the county o;'
Salop.f His grandson, John, married Isabel, sister anc
coheir of Hugh de Albini, Earl of Arundei. Their son.
of the same name, succeeded in right of his mother in
the year 1243, to the Castle of Arundei. He became
ninth Earl of Arundei, being the first earl of the House
of Fitzalan. J

The House of Albini, which was thus merged into the

s Tierney's History and Antiquities of the Castle and Town of Arun
dei. This local history is in every respect worthy of the high charac
ter of this eminent antiquary and amiable man.

t Vincent, No. III. 26, 419, BB, 406, 576. Aptid. Coll. Arm.

t Fines, 28 Henry III. m. 6. Pat. 28 Henry III. m. 13.

AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 401

House of Fitzalan, was also of Norman origin. Its CHAP.
founder was William de Albini, surnamed William the — ^— '—
Strong, who was invested by the Conqueror with the
lordship of Buckingham in Norfolk, together with the
office of chief butler to the king (pincerna regis) — an
office which still pertains to the Dukes of Norfolk, their
descendants, as Earls of ArundeL*

He married Adeliza, the relict of Henry I., who con
veyed to her second husband the honours and estates in
Sussex which, under her former marriage, had been
settled upon her in dower. He became, in her right,
Earl of Arundel, and assumed the title.f

Such was the family of Thomas Fitzalan, or, as he was
generally called, according to a prevalent custom of the
age, before mentioned, Thomas Arundel, the latter being
his historical name. His father, Richard Fitzalan, Earl
of Arundel, took for his second wife Eleanor, the widow
of John Lord Beaumont.J She was the daughter of
Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster.

Of this marriage Thomas was the third son : and through
his mother, therefore, he was nearly connected with the
royal family of England. § His father, Eichard, was one
of the most distinguished among the illustrious warriors

* Tierney, 4G9. Dugd. Bar. i. 110.

f The controversy which arose, whether Arundel Castle conferred the
title of earl to its possessor, is clearly and forcibly stated by Tierney in
the fourth chapter of his History.

J Ex. 47 Ed. III. No. 2. Pat. 19 Ed. III. p. 2, m. 102.

§ " There is a curious instance," observes Mr. Foss, " of the application
of the word 'uncle'in aletteraddressed to Arundel by Henry of Lancaster,
Earl of Derby (afterwards Henry IV.), enclosing a petition in Chancery
from one of his tenants, which is among those prefixed to the 'Proceedings
in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth,' published by the Record
Commission, vol. i. p. 7. Henry addresses him as the * Very Reverend
Father in God, and his very dear and very entirely wellbeloved
uncle.' The actual relationship between them was this : Henry's
mother, Blanch, the wife of John of Gaunt, was the granddaughter of
VOL. IV. D D

40'J LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and statesmen who adorned the age of Edward III.*

XVII

He was admiral, under the immediate command of the
Arundei. king, at the famous sea-fight of Sluys ; and he com-
14H. manded the second division of the English army at
Cressy.

Thomas Arundei was born about the year 1352,
and his father, before his death, had the happiness of
seeing him Bishop of Ely. He bequeathed him 2,000
marks.f Thomas remained in his father's castle until he
was prepared to enter the university. His primary
education differed little from that of the other young
noblemen of the day, of which Harding gives the follo\\ -
ing account : —

And as lordes' sonnes bene sette, at four yere age,
To scole at lerne the doctryne of lettrure,
And after at sex to have thaym in language,
And sitte at mete semely in alle nurture ;
At ten and twelve to revelle is thair cure,
To daunse and synge, and speke of gentelnesse ;
At fourtene yere they shalle to felde I sure,
At hunte the dere, and catch an hardynesse.

It was at this time that the brotherly love between
Thomas and his elder brother, Eichard, ripened into a
friendship, which led them to co-operate in political
affairs, and induced the archbishop to avenge the death of
the earl, by assisting in the deposition of a king. The
family feeling was strong in Thomas Arundei.

the archbishop's grandfather, through his mother's elder brother, and
was consequently the archbishop's first-cousin. It thus appears that
it was the custom in that age for children to designate the first-cousins
of their parents as uncles and aunts, a practice which we find is still
prevalent in Wales."

* His career is described by Tierney, i. 225.

| Dugd. Bar. 318.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 403

At sixteen they separated. Eichard, the heir, was CHAP.
. -, xvn.
required — . , — •

To j uste and ryde and castels to assayle, AmndeL

To scarmyse als, and make sykyr scurage, 1397-

And sette his wache for perile nocturnayle ;

And every day his armure to assay

In fete of armes with some of his meyne,

His might to preve, and what that he do may

Iff that he were in suche a jupertee

Of werre by falle, that by necessite

He might algates with wapyns hym defende :

Thus shuld he lerne in his priorite

His wapyns alle in armes to dispende.*

At the proper age, Thomas was sent to Oxford. At the
university he distinguished himself so little that it yet
remains for the archaeologist to discover the name of the
college or hall in which he resided. He became a man
of much information and of considerable talent,f but he
did not aspire to become a scholar or a divine. He took
at Oxford his B.A. degree, and to a higher degree lie
never aspired either at Oxford or elsewhere.J

During the preceding century a great change had taken
place in society. The middle classes had risen to import
ance in the House of Commons. They were now taking
an interest in public affairs, and did not merely confine
themselves to the one subject of taxation. Learning was
no longer despised, nor was it any longer a monopoly of
the clergy. Professions had begun to be formed. At one
period, men sent to the cathedral or the monastery to find
the lawyer or the physician ; and these again sought their
remuneration not only or chiefly through fees, but through
ecclesiastical preferments. Laymen were now practising

* Hardyng's Chronicle. MS. L'ansd. 200, f. 12.
f "Erat autem vir eximite sciential, clari ingenii, in singulis agibilibus
providus et circumspectus." — Dies Obituales. Ang. Sac. G2.
J Wood's Annals, 541.

D D 2

404 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, both in law and physic, and the clergy were expected to
-XV1-. confine themselves to their proper business. The idea v.ras
Anmdel. beginning to prevail that the Church, though connected

i4i4~ w^a ^ie State, was not Part an(l Parcel °f tne State, and
that the clergy might have interests distinct from those of
the statesman. The spirit of the age had its influence on
the aristocracy, and they too perceived that, if they were
to maintain their position in the country, they must be
prepared to defend the Constitution by intellectual as well
as by physical force. They were not slow to discover that,
if ecclesiastical preferments were no longer to be given as
the reward and remuneration of successful labour in the
middle and humbler classes of society, they might be em
ployed as the means by which the power and influence of
the nobles might be extended and advanced ; and so the
Devonshires and the Norfolks. with much worldly wis
dom, pushed, at an early period of life, the scions of their
respective houses into the high places of the Church.

Among the clergy a professional feeling naturally, unde:*
these circumstances, arose. In former times, they had
acted on a broad principle. Church and State being one,
they were to be ready to apply their talents to either, ae
circumstances might require. But now, when they were
compelled to regard the clerical as one among several
professions, the narrow professional spirit which it is so
difficult to keep within proper bounds began to prevail.
But no transitions that are worth anything are sudden.
The clergy, though they were narrowing themselves more
and more into the professional feeling, were not prepared,
when advanced to high positions, immediately to recede
from the secular duties which seemed to be attached, by
long usage, to their office. A Courtenay and a Fitzalan,
though they had not practised in law-courts, were ready
to act as statesmen. If, as statesmen, it was important for
them to occupy a position in a court of law, they were,

AECHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 405

by their legal education, enabled to do so. But from this CHAP.
time, generally speaking, instead of the lawyer rising to a , 1
bishopric, the bishop comes down from his episcopal ^3
throne, for some especial object, to administer the laws. 1^~

These observations are necessary to enable us to under
stand the history of the present primate, as well as that of
his immediate predecessor. In former times, they would
have commenced with the practice of the law, and have
received their ecclesiastical preferments as part payment
for work done. Now, the interest of their families was
exerted to obtain preferment for them at as early a period
of life as that system of dispensations, which so frequently
nullified the canon law, would render it possible. At
twenty-one years of age, Thomas Fitzalan of Arundel
was Archdeacon of Taunton, and at twenty-two he was
Bishop of Ely.

We are surprised at his being selected for the episco
pate at an age so early, for this had not, for many years,
been customary in the Church of England. But I think
that a reason for his early preferment can be found by a
reference to the history of his family. The Earl of
Arundel had quarrelled with William de Lenne, or
de Lynn, Bishop of Chichester ; or, to speak more
cjprrectly, the bishop had quarrelled with the earl, and
had procured a citation from the pope, ordering the earl
to make personal appearance at Borne, to answer in
the Eoman court to the charges that would be advanced
against him. The origin of the dispute and the nature
of the accusation are not known, but, of course, it related
to something purely ecclesiastical. This was so flagrant
a violation, on the part of the bishop and the pope, of
the Statute of Prasmunire and the canon law of England,
and such an insult to the dignity of the crown, that the
king had been excited to a state of great indignation ;
and, while the earl disregarded the citation and treated

406 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, it with contempt, the bishop was summoned into the

J^11'. x king's court to account for his presumption in attempting

Anmdoi. to introduce a foreign tribunal in the country.* The

HH~ Bishop was convicted in the penalties of a prramunire ;

the temporalities of the bishopric had been seized, and

his goods and chattels were confiscated to the crown. f

When the vacancy in the diocese of Ely occurred, in
1373, there was, however, a desire on the part of the
papal authorities to enter into terms of amity with the
English government ; and the English government, under
John of Gaunt, was equally desirous of establishing
friendly relations with the pope. John of Gaunt was
always more hostile to the bishops and clergy of the
Church of England than he was to the pontiff. His
government, consisting exclusively of laymen, had indeec
desired to attempt what had never been attempted or.
up to this time, desired by any ministry consisting of
ecclesiastics. To satisfy the pope, the Lancastrian ministry
had proposed a total repeal, by royal prerogative alone,
of the law of 1363 against pro visors. J They had not,
indeed, arrived at this climax until the year 1375. But
in 1373 they were in treaty with the pope, and it seems
probable, after the statement just made, that the pope
desired to terminate any feeling of hostility towards hipi
which might still exist in the Arundel family, its head
being a personal friend of the Duke of Lancaster;
and that in order to effect this object he proposed to
advanced/he clerical member of that family, by provision,
to the episcopate. The government, on the other hand,
were quite willing to see how far a violation of the Statute
of Provisors would be tolerated, when it had reference to
the appointment of a young man whose family, at this

* Tierney's Arundel, i. p. 238.

f Placit. 39 Ed. Tierney's Arundel, 238.

t Fascie> Zizan. xxiii.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 407

time, was influential in the parliament. The age of the CHAP.
young aspirant to episcopal honours would not be an >- XVII1
impediment to his advancement ; for all laws could be AronSeL
overridden by a dispensation, and a dispensation would 1^^~
be readily granted by the reigning pope ; Gregory XI.
having been created a cardinal before he was nineteen
years of age.

In the meantime, a conge d'elire had been addressed
to the chapter of Ely, in which John Woderone was
recommended for the bishopric. The prior and monks,
however, in the uncertain state of the government — the
two parties, that of the Black Prince and that of the
Duke of Lancaster, contending at that time for the
mastery — determined to make an effort to establish the
freedom of election. They hoped to do so, without
causing offence, by electing the king's treasurer, Henry
of Wakefield, a good and pious man, whose election gave
satisfaction to the citizens of Ely.* Under such circum
stances, at certain periods of our history, there would
have been a controversy between the government and the
chapter. But when the appointment by provision arrived,
the monks of Ely, acknowledging the pope as their
superior, could not consistently reject the papal nominee.
It was for the government to resent and nullify what
was a direct violation of the la\v. But the government,
for reasons just suggested, were willing to accept what
the pope intended as a peace-offering.

Arundel was consecrated at Otford by Archbishop
Whittlesey, assisted by the Bishops of London and .
Eochester, on the 9th of April 1374.f When appoint
ments were made by provision, for fear of opposition
from the metropolitan, the pope was accustomed to give
to the object of his favour and usurpation, permission to

* Hist. Ellens. Ang. Sac. i. 6G4.

f Stubbs, 58. Reg. Whittlesey. Reg. Arundel.

408 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, select his consecrator. The aged and infirm archbishop
xvii. wag probably himself selected, as any irregularity might

™™! strengthen the hands of an opponent, if, as was possible,
1397- the present violation of the law should at any time
occasion an opposition to the new prelate in parlia
ment. The bishop's two brothers, Eichard and Join.,
and other members of his noble family, were in attend
ance to ratify the family compact.* For some reason o;*
other, the enthronization of the new bishop was delayed
till the 20th of April in the year 1376.

Soon after his consecration, the bishop was staying at
Mitcham, in Surrey. Here he was waited upon by Robert
Thirkilby, one of the proctors of the University of Cam
bridge, attended by one of the beadles ; and he presented
John Don wick, doctor of decrees, lately elected chancellor.
The bishop admitted and confirmed him. But Arundel,
young as he was, was a man of business ; and, on inspecting
the registers of his predecessors, he found that, whether
intentionally or not, the authorities of the university had
induced him to act in a manner which, if his conduct on
this occasion were drawn into a precedent, would be
seriously injurious to the rights of the see of Ely. The
proctor had not thought it necessary to remind the young
prelate that, before confirming the chancellor, it was
customary for the bishops to require him to take an oath
of canonical obedience, and also to swear that he would
not obtain or consent to any statute, made or to be made,
that might in any way be prejudicial to the rights of the
Bishop of Ely and his successors. The bishop, on find
ing that he had been imposed upon, instantly instituted a
suit against the chancellor, and a warm controversy was
the result. On the 7th of December, however, judgment
was given in the Court of Arches, and the bishop esta-

* Ang. Sac. i. 664.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 400

blislied the rights of the see of Ely.* On a vacancy in CHAP.
the chancellorship, in 1384, the university acted strictly . — ^_
according to law, and the new chancellor took the pre- Arundei.
scribed oath, the bishop having nominated his commissary l*w~
to act as chancellor until the oath was taken.

There appears to have been an expectation in other
quarters that so young a prelate was likely to be careless,
but Arundei soon showed that he was quite prepared to
maintain his own. Between Edward Bunell, archdeacon
of Ely, and the bishop, a dispute arose about ecclesiastical
jurisdiction. A suit in the Court of Canterbury ensued,
and again judgment was given in favour of the bishop.
The archdeacon was obliged to appear in person before
the bishop at his manor of Downham, there to make
his submission and to take the oath of canonical obe-
dience.f

In 1383 the Bishop of Ely was appointed by the king
to act in his name as the visitor of King's Hall in Cam
bridge, where great irregularities had taken place ; the
buildings being dilapidated, and books, plate, and goods
having been purloined. J

Arundei was at all times princely in his acts of muni
ficence, and he became a benefactor to the see of Ely.
The cathedral and the palace bore witness to his muni
ficence. The episcopal residence in Holborn was refitted
and enlarged, almost rebuilt, by Arundei, and he en
closed with a wall twenty (some say forty) acres of land
round the house, creating a rus in urbe.§ Some of his
special benefactions to his cathedral it may be worth
while to record.

* Registrurn Arundei, fol. 75. There seems to have been some
irregularity on the part of Arundel's immediate predecessors, which
afforded some justification for the conduct of the authorities at Cam
bridge.

t Ibid. fol. 22, 30. t Ibid- foL 10G- § Pennant, 184.

410 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. One tablet* of gold of great value, full of relics of saints,

r---' with large pearls, rubies, and sapphires, worth 300 marks.

Arundei. This tablet formerly belonged to the King of Spain, and
\49u" afterwards to the Lord Edward, the most noble Prince of
the English, of whom the said venerable father bought
the tablet aforesaid, and bestowed it on his church, as is
premised. He constructed the gates of the house at Hoi-
born in London. He gave also one cope, a chasuble, two
tunics, and one valuable alb, with other albs of red velvet,
embroidered with large griffons of gold.f

An anecdote is told of him, when he was bishop of Ely,
which is here produced because it illustrates the bishop's
character, and, at the same time, shows the antagonism
which was going on between lawyers who continued to
be laymen, and lawyers who were also ecclesiastics. We
must, in narrating it, refer briefly to the history of Henry
Spencer, Bishop of Norwich.

Henry Spencer was, at one period of his life, the most
popular prelate of the age. Capgrave selects him as ono
of the illustrious men who bore the name of Henry. J Ho
was, from his earliest years, devoted to the profession of
arms. Finding no employment in his own country, he
accepted a commission from the pope, and fought in the
armies of Urban YL Having no other means of rewarding
the meritorious services of the young soldier, the pope
made him, by provision, Bishop of Norwich. It is
mentioned to Spencer's credit that, as soon as he was
consecrated to the bishopric, he resigned his military
appointments, and determined to reside in his diocese. He

* " Tabula." Ducange gives no fewer than fifteen mediaeval uses of
tins term. The last definition but one may here be quoted, " Tabula
inter vasa ecclesiastica sanctorum reliquiis sa3pius ornata."

f Hist. Eliensis. Ang. Sac. i. G65.

J Libri de Illuatribus Henricis, 170. See also Ang. Sac. ; and
Froissart, Fo3dera, vii. 424 ; Hot. Parl. iii. 153 ; Wilkins, iii. 176.

1397-
1414.

AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBUKY. 411

soon became eminent for the great kindness and the sound CHAP.
judgment with which he discharged his pastoral duties. v_JL^
He was open-handed, kind-hearted, and, sympathising ArunSei
with the afflicted, he was liberal to the poor.* He was
regarded as the father of his people. Unfortunately, ac
cording to our estimate of things, his martial spirit was
once more aroused by the insurrection of 1381. While
lords and knights were hiding themselves through fear, or
barricading in their strongholds, says the contemporary
chronicler, the Bishop of Norwich appeared at the
head of his retainers, with his two-handed sword, his
favourite weapon, in his hand ; and he threw himself into
the struggle with all the enthusiasm and military ardour
of his younger days. He not only defeated the rebels, but,
by his relentless severity, he quelled the rebellion. His
severity was to our minds awful ; but among the upper and
middle classes of his contemporaries it was applauded. He
Jiad merged the bishop into the baron ; and the baron,
returning from the field of fight, felt no longer the relish
he had, at one time, experienced in the discharge of the
humble duties of a pastor. He accepted with eagerness
another commission from Pope Urban, to act as the gene
ral of the papal forces in the Low Countries against Pope
Clement.

The Bishop of Norwich was commissioned to act as
Pope Urban's nuncio, for raising supr^ies to support his
army against Pope Clement : and lie had such authority
as the pope could give, to excommunicate, suspend, and
interdict all persons who should obstruct him in the exe
cution of his commission. In acting in his present capacity,
he subjected himself to the penalties of a pramiunire ; but,

* " Adepto igitur Pontifical! gradu, multis annis populum suum pace
gubernans, omnium subditorum corda retinuit. Largus erat in dandis,
lajtus in consolandis, ct paiiperum omnium optimus pater ; effectus
eorum vota manorem suum retorsit." — Capgrave, 170.

412 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, instead of prosecuting him, the government connived at
r_l-> his proceedings, because, in effect, he would be carrying

ArumM. °n a war against our great enemy, the French. By the
14-n" French the Flemings were at tliis time much pressed ; and
application had been made to England, on behalf of har
allies, for assistance. Under the existing circumstances
of the country, aid was more easily asked than granted.
The Duke of Lancaster was, at this very time, demanding
government aid that he might be enabled to prosecute
his selfish objects in Spain. The indirect opposition of
the unpopular duke ; the national feeling of hostility
towards France, against whom, in the first instance at ail
events, the bishop would have to fight, added to tli3
religious party feeling, which urged the people to support
an anti-Gallican pope against a pope devoted to tho
French.

All these things combined seemed to create an en
thusiasm in favour of Spencer and his cause. He hac
unlimited powers, unscrupulously used, of granting indul
gences to all who would enlist in his service, or contribute
to the cause. The clergy were eager to levy contributions ;
military ardour took possession of the London appren
tices ; villeins were ready to emancipate themselves from
what had become a thraldom, by enlisting in what was
regarded as a crusade. Multitudes, at the same time, of
the very scum o^ society, the bandit and the outlaw,
tendered their services from an appetence for plunder.
The badge of the crusade w^as seen in all quarters, — white
cloaks with red crosses on the breast, and swords in red
scabbards. The ladies were enthusiasts for Urban ; the
men looked forward for a return of the days of Cressy and
Poictiers in our triumphs over the French. In short, one
of those national madnesses occurred, of which we so
frequently read in history, attended by a reaction of which
the accounts are quite as many.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 413

It is not necessary to enter into the causes of the CHAP.
bishop's failure. It was attributable, in part, to the hos- ^J^El.
tility of the Duke of Lancaster, who prevented him from
receiving the proper supplies of men and ammunition,
and in part to the demoralised state of the army formed
under the circumstances just described. It is sufficient
here to state that the expedition failed ; and that all the
blame of its failure was laid to the account of the unfor
tunate Bishop of Norwich. He who left England a
hero in the imagination of the ladies, and in the expecta
tion of the veterans who had fought under the Black
Prince, returned to his country only to be impeached for
his misconduct ; and, in his impeachment, he was doomed
to find scarcely a single defender. Every kind of base
motive and corrupt practice was now attributed to the
once popular prelate. The temporalities of his see were
confiscated to the king, until all demands upon the bishop
should be met ; and when the crown would consider
this end accomplished, and return the forfeited estates,
this was more than the unfortunate prelate coidd dis
cover.

This digression scarcely requires an apology, as it
throws light upon Arundel's character. The Bishop of
Ely had shared in the popular enthusiasm, and would not
forsake his friend in his need. He was aware that all the
demands that could be fairly made upon the Bishop of
Norwich had been fully met, and that the retention of
the episcopal property had, at length, become an insult
and an injury to the Church. The Bishop of Ely took
occasion to lay the case before the king, Eichard II., whose
impulses, notwithstanding his many faults, were gene
rous and kind. He solicited the king, in the parliament
of 1385, that he would permit the temporalities of the
see of Norwich to be restored to the bishop. The king
was beginning to relent, when out spoke Michael de la

414 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Pole, Earl of Suffolk and lord high chancellor : CJ What
,_x t '. . is it, my lord bishop — what is it you are asking of the
ArmS ^ing ? Eestore the temporalities ! Seems it to you but
i49H~ a sma^ matter f°r him to part with temporalities yielding
to his coffers a net income of not less than a thousand a
year ? Little need hath king of counsellors or friends as
would act thus to his detriment." The Bishop of Ely
roundly replied : " What saith your lordship, my Lord
Michael ? Mind ye, I do not ask the king for anything
that is the king's own. What I ask of the king is that
which he, drawn thereunto by the counsel of you arc!
such as you, unjustly detains from other men, and which,
as I opine, will never do him any good. As for you, my
lord, if the king's hindrance be the thing you weigh, why
did you accept, let me ask — why did you so greedily
accept the thousand marks by year when you were made
an earl ?" This speech is said to have so " roundly pit
the chancellor home, that he never after offered any
further cross, and the temporalities of the Bishop of
Norwich were restored."

Credit is thrown upon this story, as stated on the autho
rity of Grafton, by our finding in the Specie Eolls tha ;
Eichard II. was frequently under pecuniary obligations to
the House of Arundel. Soon after the accession of Eichard
II., the royal finances had been reduced to such a condi
tion by the expensive wars of England, that the king was
obliged to pledge his crown and the crown-jewels to the
merchants of Flanders ; and they were placed in the hands
of the Bishop of London and the Earl of Arundel as a
security for the sum of ten thousand pounds, which was
to be borrowed of John Philpot and other merchants of
London.* A scion of the House of Arundel had a perfect
right therefore to speak on such a subject as that which

* Rot. Parl. 17 Edw. III. p. 1, m. 8. Rot. Parl. 1 Ric. II. p. 1, m. 25.
See also Parl. Records or Specie Rolls, 228, 229.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 415

was discussed between the Bishop of Ely and Lord CHAP.
Michael the Chancellor, whom he was destined soon after „ _X^IL
to succeed. There were evident allusions in this conver- Jrhu°n™
sation to the attempts made by the opposition to persuade
the king to discard his present advisers, and to accept
the services of the party to which the Arundels were
attached.

The Bishop of Ely did not come prominently forward
into public life, or occupy himself with affairs of state,
during the lifetime of Edward III. But after the accession
of Eichard II. his name occurs frequently in the rolls of
parliament ; and in the fifth year of that monarch he was
a member of the council. He did not, however, take any
other office until the memorable year 1386, when we
find him acting as one of the leaders in the party which
had been formed by the. Duke of Gloucester.

Of the rise and early proceedings of that party we
have not sufficient materials to give an account ; what is
stated on the subject amounts to little more than conjec
ture. For probable conjecture upon the subject, sufficient
grounds certainly do exist ; and they mainly rest upon
the character of the young king. Eichard II. was, if we
may express ourselves in plain terms, a clever fool. Such
persons are often found in the highest classes of society —
men whose talents are sufficient to make them agreeable
companions ; who are witty and, to a certain extent, well
informed ; who, in sudden emergencies, show themselves
to be possessed of a dormant intellectual force and a
moral strength of will, which fills their acquaintances with
astonishment and overpowers opposition. Nevertheless,
their whole career indicates not only an absence of moral
restraint and want of principle, but an inaptitude also to
perceive the importance of consistency, the probable re
sults of thoughtlessness, and the necessity of forethought.
They can neither reflect nor forecast. The friends of

416 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Richard II. would speak of the beauty of his person, the
, — '—* elegance of his manners, the refinement of his tastes, his

Arundoi. repartee mingled with good nature, his devotion to his
uu~ fiends, and especially to a wife worthy of his affections,
who often succeeded in restraining the worst parts of
his character.* His enemies found him to be childishly
irascible,! false, fickle, vindictive, implacable, and, above
all, a man whose word, whose very oath, could not be
trusted. The life of a prince who cannot be believed is,
in self-defence, sacrificed, when his enemies are in power.
In Eichard was verified the sacred proverb : " Excellent
speech becometh not a fool, much less do lying lips a
prince." J

Much of the evil in Richard's character is, no doubt, to
be traced to his wretched education. His uncles, selfis i
and coarse men, regarded him — the Duke of Lancaster as
an obstacle to his ambition, and the Duke of Gloucester
with feelings of personal dislike. They restrained and
coerced the royal youth. Severity in education is an edu
cation in habits of deception. The youth, sternly con-

* The violence of his grief on the death of good Queen Anne wa?
childish ; but I should argue its sincerity from the very fact whicl
some authors adduce to establish the opposite conclusion. He mar
ried again soon after her death ; but whom ? — a child ! The marriage
was never consummated, and he was so kind to the child as to win ite
affections. But surely this shows that, although he would make through
matrimony a political alliance with France, he never intended that his
bed should receive a successor to good Queen Anne. The French tastes
of Eichard conduced to his unpopularity.

J" Of his irascible temper, as well as of the eagerness with which the
young monarch entered into public business, we have several instances
in the minutes of the Privy Council. One of the charges brought
against him in parliament, at a later period of his reign, was that he
was accustomed to reprimand and interrupt members in so sharp and
sudden a manner as to prevent them from expressing their sentiments.
— Kot. Parl. iii. 420.
Proverbs xvii. 7.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 417

trolled, who is visited for every " nice offence," is a youth CHAP.
trained to be a liar. In a young man of noble or royal ..X^IL_
birth, perfectly conscious of the possession of power, in An3
the exercise of which he is, for a time, restrained, the l™~
malignant passions are, by too much strictness or restraint,
both roused and concealed. Richard determined in his
heart, and in this determination he was encouraged by his
youthful companions, to retaliate upon his uncles, when
he should come of age, all the unkindness which, in
his nonage, he experienced. His affections were never
educated ; and his strong affections therefore were often
misapplied. At eighteen years of age he set his guardians
at defiance, surrounded himself with youthful counsellors,
and seemed to think that all that could be required of a
king was to eat, drink, and be merry. It is to this period
of his life particularly that we are to apply the satire of
the " Vox Clamantis," when Gower criticised his conduct,
if severely, yet more in pity than in bitterness —

Quid tibi forma juvat vel nobile nomen avorum,
" Si viciis servus factus es ipse tins.

The prodigality of his expenditure, as represented by
the chroniclers, exceeds the bounds of credibility:—

Truly I heard Robert Ireliffe saye,

Clerk of the Grenecloth, that to the household

Came every daye for moost partie alway,
Ten thousand folke by his messis tould,
That followed the house aye as thei would,

And in the keepin three hundred servetours,

And in each office many occupiours.

And ladies fair with their gentilwomen.

Chamberers also and lavenders,*
Three hundred of them were occupied then.f

Ther was greate pride emong th' officers,

And of all men far passyng their compeers,

* Laundresses. t Were accounted of them.

VOL. IV. E E

418 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Of riche arraye and muche more costious

-_XVIL_^ Then was before or sith, and more precious.

Arundel. Yeomen and gromes in cloth of silke arrayed,

1414"" Sattyn and damaske in doublet tes and grouves.

In cloth of greene and scarlet for unpaid,

Cut werke was greate both in court and tounes.
Both in mennes hoddis and also in their gounes.
Brouder and furres and goldsmith's werke, aye newe,
In many awise each day thei did renew.

In his chapel were bishops then of Bearne,
Some of Ireland, and some also of Fraunce,

Some of England, and clerkes of many a realm,
That little connyng had or conisance
In music honorably Grod his service to advance

In the chapel, or in Holy Scripture,

Any matter of gode to refiguore.

Lewd men they were in clerkes' clothing,
Disguised fair in fourme of clerkes wise,

Their peryshyns full little informing

In lawe divine or else in God his service ;
But right practyse thei were in covetyse,

Eche year to make full great collection

At home instead of soul's correction.*

Except by the profligate multitude, battened by their
attendance upon the court, the question came to be
asked, how are these expenses to be met? The dis-

* Harding, 346, 347. I give the description in his words, as he wa3
a contemporary, being born, as we learn from his own testimony, i:i
1378. Richard II. kept up great state. The manner of holding i
levee at that period was superior in style, and less fatiguing to tho
sovereign, than the present ceremonial. "Et post hoc rex in diebm
solennibus in quibus utebatur de more regalibus jussit sibi in camera
parari thronum, in quo post prandium se ostentans sedere soleba
usque ad vesperas, nulli loquens et singulos aspiciens. Et quun
aliquem respiceret, cujuscunque gradus fuerit, oportuit ipsum genu-
flectere — Contin. Eulogii, 378.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 419

content of the middle classes, upon whom the burden CHAP.
would mainly fall, was fostered by the ancient nobility, s_xVL-
greatly indignant at their exclusion from the court, ^nrndei
Foreigners, even foreign clergy, were the people most 1397~
welcome there ; and a jealousy of foreigners had pre
vailed from the time when the national character was
gradually formed, and the distinction between Norman
and Saxon had ceased.

In 1386, things had come to a climax. The emissaries
of the Duke of Gloucester had been busy through the
length and the breadth of the land, to secure the return to
parliament of a majority of persons prepared to proceed
to extremities against the royal favourites, as it was the
fashion to denominate the members of the ministry.
Eichard chose his ministers, not because he desired to
see the country well served, but simply because he desired
to have his friends around him ; those friends preserving
their influence by pandering to the vices and by humour
ing the whims of the young king. But it may be doubted,
whether the opposition would have succeeded so soon in
rousing the country, if it had not been for the excitement
occasioned by a report, well-founded, of the designs enter
tained by the French to invade the country. There was
no fear, but the threat of an invasion on the part of the
French, whom we had so lately conquered, excited a
feeling of national indignation against the government.

When parliament met, the Duke of Lancaster, to the
king's delight, had left the country.* The Duke of Lan
caster, or King of Castile, when he found that the country
would not support him in any scheme for setting aside
the son of the Black Prince, regarded his nephew with
feelings of contempt it may be, but not with feelings of per
sonal dislike. The Duke of Gloucester hated his nephew,

* He sailed in May 138G.
E E 2

420 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and the hatred was reciprocal. The exasperation against
_ — ,— 1- the king was increased in the mind of Gloucester by a
A^u°iKiei. feud between him and the greatest of the royal favour-
HH~ ^es? ^ie -^u^e °f Ireland- It was at the same time
reported, if not believed, that the king, now that John
of Gaunt was disposed of — at least for a time, — was
plotting with his favourites to apprehend the Duke
of Gloucester, together with the Earls of Arundel, War
wick, and Derby. The interests of the Arundel fami'y
were thus identified with those of the Duke of Glou
cester.

On the 1st of October, the parliament met.* All
things seemed to be serene. The king went in state,
and took his place upon the throne. Michael de la
Pole, Earl of Suffolk, as Lord Chancellor, opened the
proceedings. So carefully and wisely had the measures
of the opposition been devised, that the royal party was
taken by surprise when it was notified that the commons
were determined to impeach the Earl of Suffolk — this
being the second instance in our history of the impeach
ment of a minister of the crown by the House of Com
mons.

The king found himself powerless. A large body o'
troops had been collected when the alarm of an invasior.
was first excited ; but, by mismanagement, they hat
only excited the feelings of the people of London anc
its neighbourhood against the court. The army thus
collected, consisting of men-at-arms and archers, had
been quartered, without discipline, in a circuit of twenty
miles round London ; and, having received no pay, had
done almost as much mischief as could have been com
mitted by an hostile army, if it had succeeded in effecting
a landing. When the indignant population adopted

* Rolls, 10 Ric. II. Dugdale Rep. App. iv. 721. Knyghton, 2G80.

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 421

measures of self-defence, these licensed robbers had been CHAP.

themselves obliged to sell their horses and their arms, >_X , '

and had returned to their several counties. Thus the Anu
kin£ was without an army. *3JJ7.~

& * 1414.

Eichard, haughty and thoughtless, treated the pro
ceedings of his parliament, at last, with contempt. He
declined any further attendance, and retired to Eltham,
there to escape from worry ; and. amid the dissipations
of his court, to show how little he cared for what was
done by the opposition.

The weakness of the king was the strength of the par
liament. The Duke of Gloucester's party, in the midst of
an excited, alarmed, and an exasperated population, were
in a condition to make any terms with the king which
they might think expedient to propose. The two houses,
in consequence, despatched a message to Eltham, demand
ing the immediate dismissal from office of the chancellor
and treasurer. The king, in violent anger, commanded
them to proceed in the business for which they had been
summoned, and to bring it speedily to a conclusion ;
adding, with reference to their demand of a change of
ministry, that he would not for them, or at their instance,
remove the meanest scullion in his kitchen.*

The ministers were as infatuated as their master. The
chancellor appeared in his place, and demanded five-
fifteenths to be paid in one year, and a tenth from the
clergy. The two houses made a dignified answer to these
insults on the part of royalty. They had unanimously
resolved not to proceed in any business of parliament
until the king should return and show himself; and until
the king had removed Michael de la Pole from his office.
Eichard, unwilling to go to parliament, and beginning

* " Dicens se nolle pro ipsis nee minimum garcionem de coquina
sua amovere de officio suo." — Pseudo-Knyghton, 2681.

422 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to feel some alarm, proposed a conference at Eltham

J T '— - between himself and a committee of the House of

Arundel Commons. He desired that the committee should con-

mV" s*st °^ f°rty knights, the wisest and most substantial

members of the house, whose decision should be binding

on the whole parliament.

This exclusion of the lords gave great offence ; and
how low the character of the king had sunk in public
estimation is proved by the fact, that to the report t\vd
the massacre of these forty members was projected,
credence was given. The report was, in all probability,
without foundation ; but it served its purpose, and added
to the unpopularity of the king.

It was finally arranged that the Duke of Gloucester
himself and the Bishop of Ely should wait upon Eichard
at Eltham. They were to lay before him the wishes and
the determination of both houses. One of these ambassa
dors represented the lords spiritual, the other the lord
temporal ; and both together, being elected by the two
houses, represented the entire parliament. The roya
duke and the prelate bravely undertook the office ; and
Eichard understood that for the safety of their persons
he would be responsible to parliament and the country.

The Bishop of Ely was the spokesman ; and, after certain
complimentary expressions, he proceeded to remark that
the king had an undoubted right to summon the two
houses of parliament, forming the highest court in the
realm, once a year, for the redress of grievances, and to
take counsel for the maintenance of the king's estate and
the conservation thereof. On the other hand, it was con
tended that if the king were to absent himself from par
liament for forty days, not being sick, the members of the
parliament might return to their homes, without granting
a subsidy. " Now, sir," he concluded, " you have been
absent during a longer space of time, and you still

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 423

refuse to conie among us, very greatly to the inconve- CHAP.
nience of the parliament." vJ^11

There was a threat, in fact, to stop the supplies. The JraiSe
king had the extreme folly to reply, " It is evident that l*w-
our people and commons intend to rebel against us ;
therefore we cannot do better than ask aid of our cousin
the French king, and rather submit us unto him than to
our subjects."

That such a treasonable notion should even enter into
the king's mind was bad enough ; but when he gave
utterance to the traitorous thought, the forbearance of
his insulted people is remarkable. The speech was pro
bably regarded as the mere threat of an angry and
ignorant boy, at a time when the country was excited —
we will not say alarmed — by a threat of invasion.

The Bishop of Ely remonstrated with the king on
his folly ; but added, that he and the Duke of Gloucester
were further commissioned to remind his highness that,
in the event of a king's alienating himself from his people
and violating the laws and statutes of the realm, throwing
himself headlong into wild designs, it is lawful for his
people to depose the king, and to place upon the throne
some other member of the royal family. It was hinted
significantly, with reference to the fate of Edward II., that
very many years had not elapsed since the people of
England had shown that this portion of the constitution
was something more than a dead letter.*

The king, as was too frequently the case, determined
to dissemble, and to yield, for a time, to the will of his
parliament. The chancellor was compelled by parlia-

* I have compared Knyghton (Col. 2C81) and Grafton (i. 432) with
the Rolls of Parliament, and have moderated between Tyrrell and Brady.
The Pseudo-Knyghton and Grafton preserved the tradition of what took
place, though we may hesitate to receive their statements as a verbatim
report.

424 LIVES OP THE

CHAR ment to resign, and was impeached ; and on the 24th of
3V1'-. October his successor was appointed, the great seal being
Arundel ^or ^ie ^rst ^me placec^ i*1 the hands of Thomas Arundel,
1397- Bishop of Ely.

One of the first duties imposed upon the new chancellor
was, by order of the parliament, to affix the great seal to
a commission empowering the Archbishops of Canterbury
and York, the Bishops of Winchester and Ely, the Dukss
of York and Gloucester, the Earls of Arundel and War
wick, the Abbot of Waltham and John of Cobham, to
receive all the revenues of the crown, and to direct tie
whole expenditure — to do, in short, as is done in theee
days by parliament. The great seal was attached to the
commission by the king's command.*

Anyone acquainted with the history of the times will
see that this commission was a remarkably fair one — per
sons of different parties being appointed, and the desira
evidently being to save the country from impending
bankruptcy. Arundel was placed near the king, because
he was a man of kind and conciliatory manners. He wa$
indeed a perfect gentleman, except — as was then the*
usual exception among all men — when his passions were
aroused. Although he was a stern man, when the neces
sities of his position or, as he would have said, his dutj
required firmness, yet he preferred mild measures, when
by mild measures his ends could be obtained.

The ministry during its short tenure of office was a
successful one. A grant was obtained from parliament of
a tenth and half a fifteenth ; three shillings on every ton
of wine imported or exported, and one shilling upon every
pound's worth of merchandise except wool and wool-fells.
The elements also fought in favour of the new government.
By the dispersion, through a tempest, of the French fleet,
the country was freed from the apprehension of an invasion

* Eot. Glaus. 10 Ric. II. m. 35.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 425

from France. On the 24th of March, 1387, the Earl of CHAP.
Arundel, admiral of the English fleet, obtained a splendid s-X^I]El.
naval victory at Sluys, captured a hundred ships, Fre^ph, Anmdei.
Spanish, and Flemish, and proceeded to relieve Brest. ^97-

There seems to have been no attempt to coerce the
king. He surrounded himself again with his favourites,
and plotted for their restoration to power. The conspira
tors, with the king at their head, endeavoured to raise an
army and to pack a parliament. In the latter design
they failed, as the sheriffs refused to abet them in their
attempts to make forced or false returns. It was believed
that the king and his party entered into a plot to murder
the Duke of Gloucester and his friends and supporters at
an entertainment in London,* and that they had nego-
ciated for aid from France by the surrender of Calais and
Cherbourg to Charles VI. When all these measures failed,
the king then obtained an opinion from the judges, who
pronounced the Commission of Regency to be illegal ; and
declared all who acted under it to be traitors.

This was, of course, a declaration of war. The confe
derate lords must either defend themselves by arms, or
submit to be executed as traitors. The king, who had
retired into Wales, now repaired to London, expecting to
triumph over his adversaries ; but the confederate lords
were prepared to receive him with an army reported to
be forty thousand strong. They retorted the charge of
treason on the royal favourites ; they seized the Tower ;
they imprisoned or banished their opponents. Robert de
Vere, Duke of Ireland, having levied an army in the king's
name in Wales, was defeated near Burford by Henry Earl
of Derby.

The cause of the appellants, as they were afterwards
called, was now complete. They endeavoured to come

* Mon. Evesh. Vita Ric. 75. Walsingham, ii. 161.

426 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to terms with the king, but his conduct was so insincere

VII1^ and vacillatory that they, more openly than before,

A™3 threatened him with the loss of his crown, unless lie

1397- dismissed from his presence the more obnoxious of 1 is

favourites. At last it was agreed to refer all differences to

the decision of a parliament, to be summoned for the

morrow of Candlemas-day, or the 3rd of February.

On that day the parliament was opened by a speech from
Arundel, still Bishop of Ely and lord high chancellor.
He declared the cause for which they were summoned,
namely—

To consider by what means the troubles in the kingdom, for
want of good government, might be ended ; the king better
advised ; the realm better governed ; misdemeanours more severe! ^
punished, and good men better encouraged. How the kingdom
might be best defended, the sea best kept, the marches of Scotland
best guarded, Gascoigny preserved, and how the charges of these
things might be borne with the most ease to the people.

At this parliament, called the " Wonderful Parliament,'1
the confederate lords carried all their measures. The late
ministers — the royal favourites — were appealed, and their
accusers were henceforth known as the appellants. They
were the Duke of Gloucester, Henry of Bolingbroke
Earl of Derby, the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Warwick,
and the Earl of Nottingham.

They were never forgiven by Eichard, who determined
upon vengeance sooner or later ; but he abided his time.
He waited till he could take his vengeance without put
ting himself to any great inconvenience. He submitted
at present ; and left the government in the hands of his
uncle and the council or commission. They acted with
vigour ; they prosecuted, with partial success, the Avar in
Scotland, and concluded a truce with France. Neverthe
less, a reaction soon took place in favour of the king.
This was to be attributed, to a considerable extent, to

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 427

the vindictive proceedings of the Duke of Gloucester. CHAP.
Having discovered that his own death had been designed
by the royal favourites, he would not listen to an appeal
to his rnercy, when the appeal was made even in behalf of
such a man as Sir Simon Burley. The people rejoiced to
see the merciless judge, Tresilian, hanging from the gallows
to which, without compunction, he had condemned thou
sands of his fellow-creatures ; but the popular sympathy
was excited in behalf of Sir Simon Burley, the friend and
companion of the Black Prince, the hero on whose
memory the public mind delighted to dwell — who had
faithfully adhered to his benefactor's son, whose tutor
he had also been, and whose subjects they all of them

were.*

In May 1389, Eichard once more gave proofs of that
determination of character and promptitude which in
duces us to suppose that if he had been properly educated
he might have become a great man, and have done service
to his country. Declaring himself now to be of full age,
and capable of ministering his affairs, he abruptly and
unexpectedly dismissed his council. The appellants, taken
by surprise, were too weak to offer resistance ; and Eichard
was not strong enough to take, at present, the vengeance
which lie determined, nevertheless — and never forgot the
determination, — to take upon those among them who had
been to him most obnoxious.

Arundel resigned the great seal on the 3rd of May

* The Duke of Gloucester regained his popularity (see Walsingham,
ii. 174) when Richard determined upon his destruction. The king
endeavoured to excite public feeling against Gloucester by stating that
the duke compelled him to assent to Burley's death. It is fair to
Gloucester to state that he thought to palliate his severe proceedings
at this time by saying, " I did it for dredde of my lyffe," — the pallia
tion of a man without principle, appealing to portions supposed to be
as regardless of principle as himselll

ui4~

428 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. 1389.* We have seen former chancellors contented with
— r— * their ecclesiastical preferments, and discharging the duties
of the office at their own charges. But the times were
changed ; and to Arundel was assigned for his livery, by
virtue of his office, the vills and parishes of Hackney and
Leyton. The grant was made on the ground that he had
no domains or vills pertaining to his bishopric near
London, where his people, family, and horses could be
entertained. |

This grant had become convenient, if not necessary, as
Ely House had ceased to be the residence of Arundel fro n
the year 1388. He was in that year nominated to tie
metropolitan see of York. Among the ministers discarded
and disgraced in the February of that year was Alexander
Neville, Archbishop of York, who was forthwith deprived
of his see.

The circumstances were peculiar, and appear to hav3
been as follows : — The Archbishop of York was declared
a traitor. The government regarded the see of York by
that circumstance as vacant ; and to the see thus declared
to be vacant Arundel caused himself to be appointed.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Courtenay, severely repro
bated his conduct, and censured him, before the bishop?
and barons assembled in parliament, for accepting the see
of York during the lifetime of Neville, and for counte
nancing the proceedings of parliament against that primate.
Arundel met the difficulty by procuring Neville's transla
tion. J It will be remembered that, in spite of the Statute

* Rot. Claus. 12 Ric. II. m. 5.

\ Foedera, vii. 553. In his second chancellorship, Stebenhyth
was assigned to him for the same object. (Ibid. 708). Arundel is
addressed in the former of these documents " Carissimi Consanguinei."
This was probably a mere formula, though it may imply — what seems
to have been the case — that Arundel was not one of the most obnoxious
of the ministers forced on the king.
} Ibid. vii. 583.

AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 429

*-r

of Provisors, the pope's right of translation was tacitly CHAP.

admitted, even in England ; and the papal authorities . ,_

were anxious, at all times, to exercise the conceded power. An^de
They had, as usual, pushed that power beyond the con- ^97-
ceded point ; and it was ruled that, to meet the exigencies
of the Church Universal, the pope might, at his own will
and pleasure, and without consulting the wishes and con
science of the party more immediately concerned, remove
a bishop from one see to another.

The ultramontane notion was creeping in, that the
episcopate was only a department of the papacy. To the
pope, therefore, assuming these powers, application was
made by the government, and Alexander Neville was
translated from York to the bishopric of St. Andrews.
The whole proceeding was a farce ; for, supposing the
Scotch to admit the pope's right to impose a bishop
upon them, yet Urban VI. was not their pope. Their
pope was the other pope, Clement VII. The measure,
however, sufficed to silence such objectors as Archbishop
Courtenay, and on the 14th of September Arundel received
his pall. Of his conduct as Archbishop of York, the
details are reserved for a future occasion ; all that we
have to do here is to state, that he again displayed that
munificence for which he was at all times conspicuous.
He spent large sums of money on the houses and manors
of the see, and gave to the church some valuable pieces
of plate.*

Arundel had made a favourable impression on the mind
of good Queen Anne ; and if he was not her confessor, he
was consulted by her as a spiritual adviser. When, in 1394,
to the irreparable loss of the country and the ruin of the
king, the good queen died, Archbishop Arundel preached
her funeral sermon. In his commendation of her he
remarked that, although she was an alien born, she had

* Drake. Eboracum.

430 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, studied the Scriptures in English. In English she reac
y1!. the four Gospels, together with the commentaries thereoi
written by the great doctors of the Church. He aftirmct

HU~ a^so anc^ testifie(l ^ia^ previously to her study of the
commentaries, she had sent them to him that he might
certify to their orthodoxy. Opposed as Arundel was tc
Wiclif and his proceedings, he is sometimes accused oi
inconsistency in thus praising the queen for the study of
the Bible ; but there is no real inconsistency in the case,
if we take the trouble to consider his position. What he
was opposed to was, not the study of the sacred writings,
but the indiscriminate circulation of Wiclif 's translation
of the Vulgate, without those commentaries of the doctors
to which the good Queen Anne deferred. Arundel may
have erred, but his error was not that of inconsistency.

The ministry of William of Wykeham, which had si c-
ceeded to the ministry of the Duke of Gloucester, though
short, was successful and brilliant. The king was persuaded
by the Bishop of Winchester not to prosecute the opposi
tion lords, though in his heart he never forgave them ;
and, as a proof that it was not to oppress the people that
he had taken the government into his own hands, 1 e
yielded to the bishop's advice that he should suspend the
payment of the subsidies voted in the late parliament.
The Bishop of Winchester immediately adopted measures
for placing the foreign relations of the country on a firmer
basis ; and, in opening the parliament of January 13S9-9C ,
he declared it to be the desire of the king to concede
to all parties the liberties, franchises, and privileges they
had enjoyed under his progenitors ; he stated, also, the
royal desire to cooperate with his parliament in the
redress of grievances.* He obtained a vote of confi
dence, and associated with his government the Duke
of Gloucester himself. A reconciliation between the

* Rot, Parl. 13 Ric. II.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 431

king and his uncle had been effected through the good CHAP.
offices of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who, > XVII
after an absence of three years, had now returned from JraS
his Spanish expedition. l^~

In the following November, William of Wykeham was
able to state to parliament that a truce had been concluded
between England and France, and that measures were in
progress to convert the truce into a lasting peace. He laid
before parliament the charges and expenses, which must
necessarily be incurred for the defence of the country against
the Scots, for the maintenance of Ireland, and for the pro
tection of the English possessions in France. He not only
obtained all he asked for, but the parliament, before it broke
up, again applauded his ministry by a vote of thanks to
the king for his good government, and for the zeal he
had displayed in promoting the welfare of his people.*
A Wykehamist may be permitted to record with satis
faction the successful termination of the political life of
one among the greatest of the many great men of whom
mediaeval England may be justly proud. William of
Wykeham — who, in taking office, had only yielded to the
royal entreaties, — having succeeded in restoring the public
tranquillity, felt at liberty once more to retire into private
life, and the great seal was for a second time confided
to Arundel, on the 27th of September, 1391.f

Although Arundel became afterwards popular with the
Londoners, and was, during the revolution, the channel of
communication between them and the Duke of Hereford,
yet there arose a misunderstanding between them in
1392, of which I find the following memorandum in the
" London Chronicler ": —

In this yere the courtes were remeved and withdrawe fro
London to York fro the feste of the nativite of seynt John Baptist

* Rot. Parl. 14 Ric. II.

f Mon. Evesliam. Walsingham. Rot. Glaus. 15 Ric. II. m. 34.

432 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, unto Cristemasse folwynge ; and all this disese above seyd \vas

"V A T T T

-vJ T L- for this cause. In this yere Thomas Arundell erchebyssop of

Thomas York was thanne chaunceler of Engelond, and Walt ham bysshop

1397- ' of Salesbury was thanne tresorer of Engelond ; the serwauntes

1414. of wniche tresorer arrered a grete debate in Fletestrete ayens

men of the towne for an hors loof, for whiche the tresorer pleyr. ed

upon the citee to the kyng, and wykkedly enformed the kyDg ;

thorngh whiche enformacion and procurment of the chaunceler,

the kyng sesed the frauuchise and the liberte of London irto

hys hond : and the kyng hadde of London X m1 lib' or

he wolde be plesyd.*

The grievance was not perhaps so great as it may it
first sight appear ; and it is ascribed, in all probability, r,o
a wrong cause. The chancery business must of necessity
follow the chancellor. Out of term time the Court of
Chancery at the present time follows the lord chancellor,
or the vice-chancellor, who acts as vacation judge.

We have again to lament the difficulty of obtaining a
clear view of the next five years, during which Arundcl
acted as minister of the crown ; having to all appearance ,
during at least part of that time, by his conciliatory man
ners regained the good opinion of the king. In the yea -
1394, he accompanied the king to Ireland ; and in 1396 he
was translated to the see of Canterbury, vacant by the
death of Archbishop Courtenay. The bull of translation:
was published on the llth of January 1397. The croziei
was presented to him with great ceremony in Westminster
Abbey by Thomas Chillenden, Prior of Christchurch, Can
terbury, in the presence of the king and the chief nobles
of the land. On the 10th of February the new arch
bishop received the pall from the hands of William of
Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester. On the 19th he was
enthroned with great pomp, the king himself being pre-

* Chronicle of London, ad. ann. 1392.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 433

sent at the ceremony.* He had resigned the great seal on CHA^
the 27th of September, f

This is the first instance of a translation from the see Amndei.
of York to the see of Canterbury. Six times has such a \4147
translation occurred. It is for a future historian to
record the unanimity with which the last translation was
received as a blessing to the Church, at a period when
our Church was as much divided by the unchristian vio
lence of contending factions as it was in the fifteenth
century.

In what we have related, we find a good understand
ing to have existed, at least apparently, between the
Archbishop of York and the king. The king would
probably have selected some one else for the office of
Primate of All England, if he had been free to act,
when the see of Canterbury was vacant by the death of
Courtenay. But lie had an object to carry, in the fur
therance of which he was willing to give his consent to
Arundel's promotion. Eichard had determined upon
a family alliance with France. His treasonable object
was, almost avowedly, to obtain assistance from the
French king against his own subjects, if he should require
it. It was rumoured that he had offered to deliver up
Calais and Cherbourg to Charles VI. He had actually
renounced the claim to the crown of France made by the
descendants of Isabella. He now proposed to share his
throne with a child.

The indignation of the people, who saw his object,
could be repressed by the bodyguard of the king, itself
a little army. But all would be in vain unless he
could procure the acquiescence of the magnates of the

* " Rege praesente cum maxima gloria fu.it enthronizatus." — Thorn,
2198.

•f Rot. Glaus. '20 Ric. II. p. i. m. 22.
VOL. IV. F F

434 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, realm. He purchased the silence of John of Gaunt

X VTT

J , '-. by offering to legitimatise his children by Catherine
Armidei. Sanfoixl. The Duke of Gloucester's acquiescence in the
H H~ match was obtained by large bribes accepted from the
two kings. The Duke of Gloucester could not, however,
throw over the Arundels, and the Arundels were to be
Avon by the appointment of Thomas to the primacy.
The Archbishop of York was also backed by the poj.e.
A papal dispensation for the marriage was required ; for
the royal bride and bridegroom elect were related in tl e
third or fourth degree of consanguinity. Boniface IX.
appointed Arundel to be his legate, and to convey tl e
dispensation, with full powers to withhold it if lie
thought fit. To conciliate Arundel was, therefore, neces
sary. The king not only consented to his translation,
but — always ready to do an unpleasant thing with a gool
grace — he was present at the enthronisation.

The new archbishop fulfilled his part of the agreement
with equal cordiality. He sailed with the king from Dover
to Calais on the 27th of September ; and was present at
the conference which took place between the kings of
England and France, between Guisnes and Ardres, on the
27th and 28th of October, when Isabel was delivered to
Eichard. Archbishop Arundel officiated at the marriage
which took place on the 1st of November, at Calais ; ae
he did at her coronation, which took place on the 7th of
January, in Westminster Abbey.*

The king, notwithstanding these measures, was quietly
and secretly, but with dogged determination, plotting
measures to render himself independent of parliament,
and to revenge himself on the Gloucester party. With
a precaution not usual with him, he had procured a
parliament which would acquiesce in every proposal he

* Fcedera, vii. 811, 817, 820, 83C, 844, 84G.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 435

might make to it. This was done through a judicious CHAP.
selection of sheriffs, who were prepared to falsify the - — ,— i
returns when necessary. Bribed by the offer of having AruTdei
his natural children legitimated, John of Gaunt was a l^~
firm supporter of the court and its measures. The weak
and vacillating Duke of York was easily persuaded by
his brother of Lancaster to support their nephew, not
only in measures adopted for the extinction of the
liberties of their country, but even in those which were
designed for the destruction of the Duke of Gloucester.*
These royal dukes, and all among the barons who
co-operated with them, were required to support the king
by appearing at the parliament summoned for the autumn
of 1397, each with a body of troops sufficient to over
power all opposition.

It was afterwards reported, that the archbishop was at
this time, in conjunction with his brother, the Earl of
Arundel, concerned in a conspiracy which, under the
direction of the Duke of Gloucester, had for its object
the deposition of the king. By modern historians no
credence is given to this story. f It is plainly contra
dicted by the fact that, when charges were brought
against the duke, the earl, and the archbishop, at a time
when everything that could be said to their disparage-
ment was produced, there is no allusion to this conspi
racy, which is alleged to have been concocted at Arundel
Castle.J All the circumstances with which we are

* From the proclamation issued on the 15th of July 1397, we find
that Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, acted with his father against
the Duke of Gloucester and for the king. He had thus changed his
'party ; but he was not forgiven, as he afterwards found.

f Lingard, iv. 325. Turner, ii. 239.

} The story of the alleged conspiracy is to be found in Froissart, ii.
c. 22 ; Hollinshed, ii. 83G ; and in Gaillard's account arid extracts
from MSS. in the library of the King of France, ii. 205.

F F 2

436 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, acquainted confirm us in the suspicion, that this was an

J , — 1- invention to justify the outrageous conduct of the king,

Armidei. after he had put the Earl of Arundel to death, and wlvjn

1414" ^ie mur(lere(l nobleman was regarded by the populace

as a martyr, at whose grave the people expected miracles

to be performed.

The king himself had certainly conspired. At a
secret meeting of his friends and favourites, held in the
castle of Nottingham, it was arranged that the Duke of
Gloucester, the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Warwic c,
and the Archbishop of Canterbury should be accused in
parliament of high treason. The question was, how to
obtain possession of their persons. Eichard proceeded
with his usual craft, and with that kind of cunning which
little minds mistake for wisdom. lie permitted the un
suspecting Earl of Warwick to be honoured with an
invitation to meet him at dinner at the lord chancellor's —
the Bishop of Exeter* being chancellor at the time. The
Bishop of Exeter's residence was near Temple Bar ; and
there, when the dinner was drawing to a close, the eail

* Edmund de Stafford was the Bishop of Exeter. lie was the son of
Sir Eichard de Stafford, and was nephew of the Earl of Stafford. 1L;
was educated at " Stapyldon Halle, vulgariter nominata Exon," a
Oxford. lie was a Doctor of Laws, and had a stall in York, and was
consecrated to the see of Exeter on the 20th of June 1395. According
to Austin, it is said that at his consecration he assigned the pension o:'
five marks to a clerk named by the Crown until he could collate to a
suitable living. On the 23rd of October 1396 he was appointed Lord
Chancellor, and continued in office till the king's deposition. Though
loyal to Richard, he gave in his adhesion to the Revolution when it
was accomplished, and was received into favour by Henry IV., who in
1401 gave him the Great Seal, which he retained for nearly two years.
He retired to his diocese in 1403. He was eminent for his devotion,
arid for the zeal with which he discharged his duty, as is attested by
two folio volumes still existing of his registers. He died at Bishop's
Clist, on the 3rd September 1419. His benefactions to his diocese
and college were many and great. — Fuller's Worthies. Oliver.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 437

was apprehended and conveyed to the Tower.* The CHAP.
king's conduct towards the Duke of Gloucester was ^_x^n'-
more atrocious still. f But worst of all was his treatment Jruiidei
of the archbishop, who was made the instrument for the ^97-
destruction of a brother whom he dearly loved.

Eichard Earl of Anmdel had for some time retired
from public life. He had even obtained a particular
exemption from all attendance in parliament ; and, in
order that he might enjoy his retirement without fear
of further molestation, he solicited and received, in
1394, an especial pardon of all his political offences. J
He was even received into favour at court, as we
find him engaged in a hunting-party with the king at
Leicester. §

At his castle of Anmdel, surrounded by his retainers
and tenants, he was safe. How was Richard to obtain
possession of his person without sending his troops to
attack him ? This was the question. He invited him to
court. When the earl declined, the king required the
archbishop to second his request for an interview. The
archbishop, warned by what was going on around him,
and knowing the insincerity of the king's character, de
murred. What security was there for his brother's safety ?
The king took a solemn oath that the Earl of Arundel
should come and go in perfect safety and unharmed.
The archbishop yielded. The aged earl, the hero who

* Rot. Parl. iii. 435.

f The circumstances of his arrest are narrated by Froissart, iv. 86.
The treachery and heartlessness, the vindictive malice so long cherished,
and the utter disregard of his word displayed by Richard, render it
difficult to pity him under his subsequent misfortunes, the consequence,
to a great extent, of his conduct at this time.

t Rot. Parl. iii. 313, 311 ; Pet. 17, Rec. 2, p. 2, m. 16. He had
made some charges against the Duke of Lancaster in 1394, for which
he publicly apologised. — Pet. 17, Rec. 2, m. 15.

§ Knyghton, 2737.

438 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, had won the only victory of the reign, arrived at Lambeth
J t '-- on the llth of July. The brothers, in perfect reliance
Anmdei. on tne king's word — his oath — passed the evening, the
HH~ ^as^ ^ey were ever ^o Pass together, in friendly conversa
tion. The next morning, the 12th, they crossed in the arch
bishop's barge to Westminster. The earl was received
immediately into the royal presence. The archbishop
waited for his return from morning till noon — from nocn
to night : he then was rowed back to Lambeth. After a
sleepless night he was told the next morning, that as soon
as his brother appeared before the king, the latter, in an
angry tone of voice, said to the Earl of Nottingham, then
in waiting, " Take away that Earl of Arundel ! " and
straightway left the room. The Earl of Nottingham
hurried Arundel into another chamber, and locked tha
door. In the night he was conveyed to the Tower.

The archbishop still had hope, and determined to act
with caution. But he was an altered man — a deep deter
mination of revenge rankled in his heart.* As the 17tl
of September approached, it was perceived that some greai
movement was contemplated. So many were the armec
attendants upon the lords and great men who repaired tc
Westminster, that London itself could not accommodate
them. The surrounding villages, for ten or twelve miles
around, were filled with troops, who, being engaged in the
king's service, had free quarters, and helped themselves,

* Gower's Tripartite Chron. Pol. Songs, 427. " Qualiter rex, qui
per mille meandros procerum corda exagitans inquietavit Ricardum
comitem Arundellia}, qui dicitur equus, fraudulenter decepit. Erat
enim tune frater dicti comitis Thomas Cantuarise Archiepiscopus, cui
rex sub juramento fidem prasstitit quod, si dictus comes ad sui regis
pra3sentiam obediens sponte veniret, liber ex tune absque calumnia
ubicumque transire vellet cum firnia regis amicitia fiducialiter per-
maneret : et sic veniens probus comes ab improbo rege decipitur."-
Rot, Parl. iii. 425; Walsingnam, 354; Gower, 430; Hollinshed, 40.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 439

unresisted, to whatever they thought fit to demand.* CHAP.
Between the clocktower and the entrance of Westminster .-XTII
Hall, in what is now called Palace Yard, a temporary SXi
building was erected for the meeting of parliament. It ^97-
was a building made of timber, was covered on the top
with tiles, and was open at both ends, at which were
posted the military. These, at a signal given, could act
without impediment, if force should be found necessary to
enable the king to effect his coup d'etat. The chancellor
was Edmund de Stafford Bishop of Exeter, of whom we
have spoken. He was supported by John of Gaunt (styled
Duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster),f and the Duke of
York, the king's uncles. The commons chose John Bussey,
the king's favourite, to be their speaker.

In this parliament! a remarkable and anomalous pro-

* Pol. Songs, i. 427.

f I always give to John of Gaunt, titular King of Castile and Leon,
his English title, as that by which he is best known. From the year
1389 his titles were " John, the son of the King of England, Duke of
Guienne (or Aquitaine) and Lancaster, Earl of Derby, Lincoln, and
Leicester, and Steward of England." Cotton, 343. He was created
Duke of Lancaster on the 13th of November 13G2, and Duke of Aquitaine
for life (in parliament), 2nd March 1389. The title of duke originated
with Edward III. Richard II. introduced the rank of marquis by
patent, and also created a baron by letters-patent, being the first
creation of the dignity of a baron by patent. Henry VI. instituted
the title of viscount. — Selden, G80. Dugdale, 54.

% There is an amusing account given of this parliament by a contem
porary song-writer in a very curious alliterative poem. They were a
little body of patriots prepared to resist the court, but they formed a
small minority : —

" Some sat like a cipher in arithmetic, which makes a place but
avails nothing. Some had supped with Simon the night before. Some
were titulars, and gave private information to the king of such as were
opposed to him. Some slumbered on the benches and said little.
Others i maffled with the mouth,' but knew not what they meant.
Some were bribed, and acted under the orders of those who had bought
them ; while others looked solemn, but seemed not to know why.

440 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, ceeding took place. The commons stated, that as several
— ^-1- judgments and ordinances made in parliament at the
Anmdei. time of the king's progenitors had been repealed and
i4u~ annulled, because the estate of the clergy was not then
present in parliament, they therefore prayed that the
prelates and clergy should make a procurator, with suffi
cient power to consent, in their name, to all things and
ordinances in parliament ; and the lords spiritual we ^e
requested to give their opinion and advice upon the sub
ject. The result was that the spiritual lords consented to
commit their full poAver to a layman — " a lay persone"-
stating, in the name of the archbishops and prelates an 1
clergy of both provinces, (who, by right of their churches
and temporalities, had a right to be present in all parlia
ments, to treat and despatch there for the state and
honour of the king, &c.), that they committed full powe *
to Sir Thomas de Perry, Knight, so that whatsoever
should be done by him in the premises should be received
at all future times.*

Some were so fierce at the first start, that they appeared to have put OK
all sail to catch the wind, but they soon pulled down their sail when
the storm set in. Some had been beforehand tampered with by the
council, and knew well enough how it would end, or some of the
assembly should repent of it. Some held with the majority, however
it went ; and others talked pertly, but they had more in view the
coin which the king was to give them than the interests of their con
stituents, and were promised hand sell of the silver which was to be
given to the king." — Pol. Songs. This is a version in modern English
of the metrical song, to be found, i. 414.

* Perry, Parliaments and Council of England, 157. The constitution
of parliament was not as yet fully established. The proceedings on this
occasion are considered by some writers as opposed to the pretensions
of the clergy, who assumed the right, as an estate of the realm, to have
a negative on the proceedings of parliament, as parliament now has on
the proceedings of convocation. But, on the principle qui facit per
alium facit per se, it rather appears that, on this occasion, they con
ceded the right. The reason for this anomalous proceeding is obvious.
Richard had determined on taking vengeance on his opponents, and,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 441

The parliament was opened by a speech of the chan- CHAP.
cellor, the Bishop of Exeter, in favour of arbitrary power. - xvn^
The statute and commission made in the parliament of Anmdei.
October 1386 were annulled, and the pardons granted ^i-
to the Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Arundel and
Warwick were repealed.

The excitement out of doors was, during these proceed
ings, so great, that the king's bodyguard, consisting chiefly
of Chester men, surrounded the house of parliament,
their bows bent, and the strings drawn to their ears,
ready, at the first word of command, to shoot.* Such
was the popularity of the Earl of Arundel, that, to the
last, a disturbance was feared. The king, meantime,
knew that he had made the archbishop his mortal
enemy, and his proceedings against him were charac
teristic.

On the third day of the session the Archbishop of
Canterbury was at his place in the House of Lords. It
was a full parliament. Eichard attended, surrounded by

according to the canons, the clergy could not be present in any judg
ment of blood. As is often the case with tyrants, Eichard desired to
observe all the forms of the Constitution which he had determined to
violate, and devised this mode of obtaining the clerical sanction, which
was readily given, as it admitted their constitutional right to do what
they were canonically restrained from doing. Sir T. Perry was a judge,
removable at the king's pleasure, and a north-countryman, where
Richard was to the last in favour. I find procurators of the clergy are
mentioned in the "Modus tenendi Parliamentum," under the head " De
quinque Clericis," 17 ; and also under the head " De Gradibus Parium,"
25. Edit. Hardy.

* "Ad pugnam arcubus tensis, sagittas ad aures trahentes." — Walsing-
ham, 354. They were in attendance at the earl's execution. " Pra>
cessit eum et sequebatur satis ferialis turba Cestrensium armata
securibus, gladiis, arcubus et sagittis." This bodyguard (multos male-
factores de comitatu Cestria?) was so disorderly, and robbed the people
so unmercifully, that to their conduct we may trace, in part, the hos
tility of the Londoners to Richard.

442 LIVES OF THE

C?^- all the splendour of royalty. The commons were au-

^ - nounced, headed by their speaker, the king's friend,

Anmdei. Busscy. They made protestation that, besides the usual

H14? business of the session, it was their interest and will, with

the king's permission, to make inquiry into the conduct

of certain high personages in the State, and from time to

time to accuse and impeach them during the presert

parliament. The king commanded that their protestation

should be entered as a record on the rolls.

The House of Lords then proceeded to business. Tho
king took his place in the centre of the king's bench —
the Archbishop of Canterbury on his right hand, th>3
Archbishop of York on his left.* On the king's right, at
his feet, sat the chancellor and the chief justice of
England, with their clerks ; on his left hand the treasurer,
the chamberlain, the barons of the exchequer, and the
justices of the bench, with their attendants. The lord^
spiritual and temporal were in their respective places.
The people witnessed the proceedings from the end of the
long building. They saw the king conversing familiarly
with the archbishop. He was only interrupted by the re
appearance of the commons. The confusion occasioned by
their entrance was scarcely over, when the voice of the
speaker was heard :

In the name of the Commons of England I accuse and impeach
Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury of high treason, for that he,
being the chief officer of the king, his chancellor, when he was
Bishop of Ely, was traitorously aiding, procuring, and advising
in making a commission, directed to Thomas Duke of Gloucester,
Richard Earl of Arundel, and others, in the tenth year of his

* " Primo, ut praedictum est, rex sedebit in medio loco majoris
Banci, et ex parte ejus dextra Archiepiscopus Cantuarensis, et ex parte
ejus sinistra Archiepiscopus Eboren." — Modus tenendi Parliamentum.
Ed. Hardy, 37.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 443

Majesty's reign ; and made and procured himself, as chief officer, CHAP,
to be put into it, to have power with the other commissioners -_ ^ — r—~
to see it put in execution ; which commission was made in pre- Arimdel
judice to the king, and openly against his royalty, crown, and 1397-
dignity ; and that the said Thomas actually put the said com
mission in execution.

Also that the said archbishop, in the eleventh year of the
king, procured and advised the Duke of Gloucester, with the
Earls of Warwick and Arundel, to take upon them royal power,
and to arrest the king's liege subjects, viz. Simon Burley and
James Berners, knights, and adjudge them to death, contrary to
the king's will and without his consent.

The speaker concluded by praying that the said arch
bishop should be put into safe custody.

Arundel, though taken by surprise, immediately rose
to answer. He was a ready and an eloquent man. His
defence would have been an easy one. Nine years had
elapsed since the offences charged against him had been
committed. He had not only received the king's pardon,
but had actually been employed, during five out of the
nine years, as his chancellor. He might also have assailed
the king himself; and especially he might have revealed
the iniquity of Richard, in employing the archbishop to
decoy his brother the earl to the court, where the
perjured king made him prisoner. A more full acquittal
the archbishop himself could not, however, have obtained,
than that which is produced by the fact that, during the
five years of his tenure of office as chancellor, nothing
could be laid to his charge, though his unscrupulous
enemies had searched diligently for grounds upon which
to rest an accusation against him. When he resigned the
seal in 1396, it was not from any breach with the king,
but because his appointment to the primacy had involved
him in ecclesiastical business, which demanded all his
time and attention.

Eichard was quite aware of this ; and quite aware he

444 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, also was that the designs which had been formed for the
r-^— annihilation of the Duke of Gloucester's party could not
Amndei. be carried into effect, with impunity, so long as the arcli-
ui4~ bishop remained in England. The king therefore, with
the gracious manner he could assume even when his
purposes were hostile and even deadly, assured the arch
bishop of his friendship and protection. With a friendly
smile upon his face, he advised him, in a whisper, to defer
his defence to another opportunity, when he might be
heard with less impatience by the exasperated commons.
The archbishop hesitated to follow this advice, but Eichard
was urgent, and prevailed.

The king then himself addressed the commons. Ho
stated that, as the accusation was brought against so
great a personage, and the impeachment lay against &
peer of the realm, he would be advised before he decidec
upon the line of conduct to be pursued. The commone
withdrew. The archbishop, though not actually com
mitted to prison, was under surveillance in his own
house. Lambeth was sufficiently near to enable the king
to visit him ; while the troops were careful to prevent
anyone from landing at the steps, who might convey
intelligence to the primate of what was transacted in par
liament.

Eichard, as was usual with him, would have preferred
carrying his point by artifice, and wished to persuade the
archbishop to expatriate himself. According to the arch
bishop's own statement, " The said king did, from day to
day, for five days or more, fraudulently and treacherously
deceive the said archbishop, counselling and persuading
him that he should not come to parliament, but wait at
home without fear."

At length it became known that, on the very day of
his impeachment, Arundel was found guilty of treason ;
the sentence pronounced upon him being that of banish-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 445

ment, with the confiscation of all his temporalities, CHAP.
goods, and chattels to the kinoj. ' <-—

Thomas

When this could be no longer concealed trorn the Arundei.
archbishop, the king, with his accustomed love of false- ^^T
hood, attempted to vindicate his conduct, and to clear
himself from blame. The rest shall be narrated in the
archbishop's own words ; the following forming part of
the charge brought against Eichard when his deposition
was proposed to parliament : —

The king (it is said) being willing to palliate his malice and
subtilty by flattering discourses, which he ofttimes had with the
said archbishop, did endeavour to clear himself of such injury
done, and make as if it were the doings of others : insomuch
that the archbishop, discoursing with the king and with the
Duke of Norfolk, and other lords and great men of the king
dom, happened to say, by way of lamenting his own condition,
that he was not the first that had suffered banishment, nor
should be the last, for he thought in a short time the Duke of
Norfolk and other lords would follow him, and confidently
averred to the king that all the rigour of these proceedings
would finally be returned back on his own head. To which the
said king, as astonished, hastily replied, that he verily thought
it might so happen; and that he himself might and indeed
ought to be expelled his kingdom by his liege people. And further
• the said king said, that if the same should happen, he would con
vey himself to the same place where the said archbishop should
be. And that the archbishop might the rather credit his words,
he showed him a certain great jewel, curiously formed, under
neath the skirt of his outward vestment, intimating for certain, to
the said archbishop, that whenever he should send that jewel for
a token, he would not delay to come thither where the said arch
bishop should be resident. And that the said archbishop might
more confide in him, the said king sent to him, advising him
that he should privately send all his jewels, and other things of
value belonging to his chapel, unto him the said king for the
safe keeping thereof, lest by colour of the before-mentioned
judgment anyone should wrongfully seize the same ; which,

446 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, under the greatest confidence in the world, being done, the said
XMI^ king caused him to reposite the said goods in certain coffers,
Thomas an(j the said coffers to be locked up and sealed by one of the
1397- ' archbishop's clerks ; and keeping the said coffers by him,
1414> returned the keys thereof by the said clerk to the archbishop :
yet afterwards, unknown to the said archbishop, caused the
said coffers to be broken open, and disposed of the goods therein
at his will and pleasure. Furthermore, the said king faithfully
promised the said archbishop, that if he would but repair to the
port of Hampton, in order to go out of the realm, he would at
last, by the intercession of the queen, get him recalled ; and if
it should happen that he the said archbishop should go out of
the realm, he should without fail return into England before
Easter next following, nor should in any kind lose his arcl-
bishoprick. And this he faithfully promised, swearing upon
the cross of the late Martyr St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canter
bury, by him the said king corporally touched. *

When the king came to Lambeth, to take leave of th<>
primate, Arundel remonstrated with him long and forcibly
on the dissipations of the court.f

The king did not succeed in persuading the archbishop
to go into voluntary banishment ; and therefore, having
lost all patience, he issued his orders, that within six weeks
from the eve of St. Michael, the archbishop was to depart
the realm ; he was to pass from Dover to France, all
the temporalities of the see being forfeited to the crown.

It was not till Arundel had left the country, that he
was aware of all that had occurred during his impri
sonment. He was then informed that, on the very day on
which his impeachment was brought up by the commons,
the king had commanded it to be recorded in parliament
that the archbishop had been before him, in the presence

* Parliamentary History, i. 26. These form part of the charges
brought against King Richard as the grounds of voting his depo
sition.

f Contin. Eulog. 377.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 447

of certain lords, and confessed that he was mistaken and CHAP.
erred in the exercise of the commission, and therefore put v --— '-

, Thomas

himself on the king s grace and mercy. It was on the
strength of this alleged confession that sentence was given
against the archbishop.*

It is subsequently stated that the revolutionary party
did not at first intend to depose the king. But what
alienated Arundel for ever from Eichard was the treat
ment of his brother, at the very time when the archbishop
himself was subjected to the cajolery of the king.

On the day after the archbishop's removal from parlia
ment, the Earl of Arundel, in the custody of Sir Ealph
Neville, the constable of the Tower, was conducted to
Westminster. He was subjected to the same accusation
as his brother, but defended himself eloquently, and
pleaded the royal pardon that had been granted to him
self and to the others concerned in the formation of the
regency. He was, nevertheless, condemned. He was
hurried instantly to Tower Hill : there he was beheaded,
to the great indignation of the people. To the excitement
of the Londoners, and the decided favour they from this
time showed to the archbishop, as the much-loved brother
of the popular earl, we may attribute the anxiety of the
king to get the archbishop out of the country without
causing a disturbance.!

* Gower, in the Tripartite Hist., thus speaks of the fact : —
" Insuper et, quod detestabile fuit, idem crudelissimus rex reveren-
dum in Christo patrem Thomam Arundelliae, time Cantuaria? Archiepis-
copum, de sede sua penitus expulit, ipsumque pro perpetuo in exilium
delegari crudelissime constituit." — Pol. Songs, i. 425.

•f That Richard was conscience- stricken and alarmed at this time at
the symptoms exhibited of popular disapprobation is clear. The Earl
of Arundel was buried in the church of the Augustinian Friars in
Broad Street. Thither the people flocked, to offer to him the
honours of martyrdom. The report was propagated that miracles
were, through his intercession, wrought at his tomb. They went so far

448 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. When the archbishop arrived in France, he was apprised

- of the death of the Duke of Gloucester, who had been

Arundei. exiled to Calais. The duke arrived at Calais in good health,

uuT but was soon after a dead man : the report was that lie

had been smothered.

The exile of the archbishop is thus narrated by the
Poet Gower, who, with the single exception of Chaucer,
was the most distinguished poet of his age : —

Anglorum primas, supremo culmine primas
Qui tenuit sedes melius dum sperat in osdes,
Hunc rex compellit, et eum de sede repellit,
Dum Simon Komae supplantat foedera Thomae
Hie Thomas natus comitis fuit intitulatus,
Clericus aptatus, doctor de jure creatus,*
Legibus ornatus, facundus, morigeratus,
Cum Christo gratus, in plebeque magnificatus.
0 quam praelatus ! tarn purus et immaculatus !
Ad regale latus tandem fuit illaqueatus.
Tramite subtili latitans plus vulpe senili,
Rex studet in fine Thomam prostrare ruina.f

Arundei, on reaching the Continent, started immediately
for Koine. The journey was attended with considerable
danger ; he was attacked and nearly murdered. This
was done, it was reported, by the procurement of the
king, who was at this time staining his hands with blood.
What gives some shadow of support to the suspicion is,
that the king is said to have sent a message to the pope,

a3 to say, that God had determined to manifest the injustice of his per
secution, and that his head had been miraculously reunited to his body.
On the tenth day after his burial the king sent a party of his own
friends to the church, with instructions to open the grave and to examine
the state of the body. Of course no extraordinary appearance was
discernible ; but, as a precautionary measure, the tomb was destroyed
and the remains removed. — Tierney, 264; Walsinghani, 354; "W.
Wyrcst, 444.

* Pol. Songs, i. 434.

f This is contradicted by Wood.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 449

Boniface IX., informing him that Arundel was dead, and CHAP.
proposing Walden as his successor : he evidently had > _XVII
anticipated the success of the projected deed of blood. ^
Arundel was received by Peter Toniacelli, the pope, with l™-
an amount of sympathy and kindness which gratified him
much. When, however, the king heard that his enemy
had arrived in safety at Borne, and had been received
with all the honours, due to his rank and station, he
immediately wrote to Boniface thus :*-

Thomas, for his treasonable conspiracy against our crown and
royal majesty, has been sentenced only to perpetual banishment,
whereas, had he been dealt with answerably to his demerits, he
ought to have suffered the punishment of high treason ; but in
consideration of his character, and out of regard to religion, we
have thought fit to grant him his life and abated the rigour of
the law. But since his going beyond sea, both ourself and our
subjects are much surprised at the turn of his fortune : for we are
informed that he has been invited to your holiness's court, coun
tenanced in his misbehaviour, taken into your protection, and put
in hopes of recovering his see, or at least of being promoted in
our kingdom to benefices of greater value than those he enjoyed
before. How destructive such unaccountable favours as these
must be to our dignity and government, and to what apparent
danger it may expose us, is easy to imagine : for which reason we
are resolved not to bear with such treatment, though the whole
world were of a different opinion. For we are thoroughly ac
quainted with this man (ad medullas) : we know him to be of a
turbulent seditious temper, who, if he were permitted to live in
our dominions, would return to his old practices, poison our
subjects with misreporting the administration, and endeavour to
undermine our government ; for it is probable he would use
sufficient precaution not to fall under the lash of the law. We

* I have given this narrative from a careful comparison of the various
statements in the " Continuatio Eulogii," the Parliamentary Rolls, the
Arundel Register, Froissart, the assertions made by Arundel himself in
the Articles relating to the king's deposition, and Gower's " Tripartite
History."

VOL. IV. G G

450 LIVES OP THE

CHAP, desire therefore that your holiness would prevent these occasions

X VII1^ °f mischief, and not shock our interests and inclinations by such

Thomas favours ; for should such measures be put in execution, it is possi-

1397- hie they might create such misunderstandings between the crown

1414- and the mitre as it might prove difficult to remove. For, to speak

plain, we cannot take that person for our friend who caresses

our enemies, and takes them by the hand in so loving a manner.

However, if you have a mind to provide for him otherwise, we

have nothing to object, only we cannot. allow him to dip in our

dish. We heartily desire that you would take the matter into

serious consideration, as you tender our royal regards, and expect

a compliance with any future request your holiness may mate

to us.*

To offend the King of England was more than tin
Pope of only a moiety of Western Christendom could
venture to do, — especially a king whose power was at
present so great, that he could banish or condemn to
death the greatest men of his realm if they ventured
to dispute his will or if they incurred his suspicions.
The real weakness of Eichard's government was no,
known at Borne. It was also with satisfaction, that the
Roman Court received a request from Richard to act
in defiance of the statute against pro visors, and, with
out consulting the chapter of Canterbury, to appoint
a new primate by provision. How was this, however,
to be done without displaying an act of wilful des
potism, which would have involved Boniface in the same
disgrace as that which now attached to the name of
Richard ? It could only be done by treating Arundel in
the same way as his predecessor Neville had been treated.
There was a kind of poetical, justice in the proceeding.
Arundel could not justly complain, since the principle
asserted in his case had in the case of Neville, in spite of
the remonstrances of Archbishop Courtenay, received his
sanction. The pope translated Arundel to St. Andrews.

* Focdera ad an. 1399.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 451

It was a mere form, for the authority of Boniface was not CHAP.
admitted in Scotland, even if under any circumstances ^^L^
such an exercise of it would have been tolerated. How- Jru°ndei.
ever, he declared Archbishop Arundel to be Bishop of St. l^~
Andrews ; and the throne of Canterbury being vacant, he
obeyed the will of the king, and by a bull of provision
appointed Eoger Walden to the vacant see. As Arundel
did not resent the proceeding, it is very clear that there
was an understanding between him and Boniface. The
archbishop denied the validity of the translation, since his
own consent had not been obtained to it ; and the pope pro
mised — a promise which he afterwards fulfilled — to treat
Walden, notwithstanding his appointment, as a usurper, if
the party of Arundel should ever succeed in establishing
itself in power.

Arundel could no longer remain in Borne. He retired
therefore to Florence, where the countryman of Sir John
Hawksworth was secure of a weltbme. It shows the ver
satility of Arundel's mind, that he could thoroughly enjoy
" that city of flowers and flower of cities," as appears
from a letter which he wrote to his chapter at Canterbury,
by whom he had been addressed in terms of condolence
and indignation : —

" The letter of Thomas Arundel, archbishop, sent to the con
vent of Canterbury, and signed by his own hand in that earthly
paradise near Florence, when an exile.

" When I arrived at the Court of Rome I was received with
more favour by the Chief Pontiff and the Sacred College of Car
dinals than I ventured to expect or hope. Among other things
the Pope was pleased to say that nothing ever caused him so
much regret, since the day of his appointment to the present
hour, as what he had been obliged to do in my case. With respect
to my affairs, however, I hope that things will soon turn out
better than my enemies suppose."*

The first object now in Arundel's mind was to revenge
* Ex. Arch. Eccles. Cant,

G G 2

452 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, his brother's death, and the treatment he had himself

— -r-1- received, by humbling the pride, in some way not yet sug-

Anmdei. gested to his mind, of the despotic king who had sent him

1414" *llto exu<e' anc^> a^ ^e same time, to rescue his country

from the disgrace and misery in which she was involved

by the folly of those young men whom alone King Eichard

would consult. He would abide his time and watcli

the progress of events. The news soon arrived of the

unaccountable -conduct of Eichard to Henry of Boling-

broke, the Duke of Hereford. Arundel at once perceived

that this gave him all he required, — a leader.

We are accustomed to consider Henry IV. as a morose
suspicious monarch, with nothing loveable in his cha
racter. Such he became because he had a conscience,
though to the dictates of that conscience he too ofter
turned a deaf ear. That conscience would, however,
speak: and the conscience-stricken man, though as a
monarch called upon t^meet difficulties, which abilities
less than those which he displayed could not have over
come, soon after lie came to the throne, gave evidence of
what he suffered by his declining health, which brought
him to an early grave. But such was not the Henry Bo-
lingbroke — young, thoughtless, loving his ease, but full of
life and energy when called into action, — who at this
time presented himself to the mind of Arundel. They were
connected by family ties. Henry's mother Blanch, the
wife of John of Gaunt, was the granddaughter of the
archbishop's grandfather, through his mother's elder bro
ther — consequently the archbishop and Bolingbroke were
first-cousins : in addition to which Henry's first wife was
a Bohun. The archbishop might easily, therefore, ap
proach him, united as they also were in a common cala
mity ; and he felt little doubt that he would be able to
stir up in his breast the same fire of revenge which was
kindled within his own, if he could only effect a personal

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 453

'his was difficult, as Eichard, with, more than
his usual sagacity, had foreseen the course which the

interview. This was difficult, as Eichard, with more than CHAP.

-A. V _LJ_.

ii'i TIT T TIT Thomas

archbishop was likely to pursue, and made Bohngbroke Arundei.

swear that with Arundei he would have no communion.

mion. U14<
But an oath in that age did not count for much.

The news soon after came of the death of " time-
honoured Lancaster," at the age of fifty-nine, and of the
confiscation of his property by Eichard. Surely this, he
thought, judging of others by himself, will rouse the lion
in the heart of a Plantagenet ! He therefore left Florence,
and went to Cologne.* Between Cologne and London
there was much and friendly intercourse. German mer
chants passed frequently from Cologne to London, and
English merchants were continually visiting Cologne for
the purposes of trade. The attachment of the Londoners
to Henry Bolingbroke, the most popular man in England,
amounted to an enthusiasm. Forty thousand persons, ac
cording to Froissart, had attended him to his embarkation
— not with songs and music, but with significant silence,
only broken by lamentations and expressions of regret.
All this plainly declared that an army was at his service,
if at any time an army was required, and that an army
would be required soon if the despotism of the king were
not checked in time. Arundei — himself a popular man, a
man of kind and conciliatory manners — was now sur
rounded by men who were quite prepared to co-operate
with him in any measures he might adopt against the
king.

It is said by Froissart that Arundei was sent from
London to Henry — a mistake which is easily corrected, if
for London we read Londoners, and regard the Londoners
as represented by the English merchants at Cologne.

But the difficulty was with regard to Henry himself.

* I have traced the peregrinations of Arundei from Froissart, and
from an author quoted by Leland.

454 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Henry was not an ambitious man, and he was, at this
-r—' time, a man who enjoyed his ease, and was fascinated
Ar^ildd. by the dissipations of Paris, to which capital he had
uu" resorted on his exile. The dormant ambition of a man u
whom ambition is not the besetting sin may be excited by
circumstances ; but Henry was not one of those men who
set out with a determination of winning and wearing a
crown. The crown was placed by circumstances within
his grasp, and he then placed it on his head. But we
may fairly believe, that when he entered upon the ex
pedition to which Arundel aroused him, his intention was
rather to rule an imbecile king, than to thrust him from
a throne to which Henry was not himself even the heir-
presumptive. Arundel also was impelled by his malig
nant passions to the same end : they did more than
they designed, being led by that " facilis descensus " which
renders one wrong step the sure precursor of another.

The report that came to Arundel at Cologne was, thai
the Duke of Hereford, having been received by his relations
in the royal family of France with a cordiality he had no
reason to expect, was absorbed in more than the gaieties
of the French Court ; for the young widower had lost his
heart to Marie, the daughter of the Due de Berri. The
father of the young lady was evidently playing fast-and-
loose with the lover — waiting to see whether any change
in his fortunes was likely to occur. This, of course, only
made him the more ardent. Henry of Bolingbroke, in
short, had no wish to leave France, or to embark in a
hazardous enterprise, although Arundel knew that, when
once he had embarked on it, he would conduct it with
all the vehemence of his genius.

It was agreed among the friends and counsellors of
Arundel that a personal interview between the arch
bishop and the young duke was of the greatest impor
tance. This was not an age of protocols or of letter-

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 455

writing : and Arundel, from his rank, his weight of CHAP.
character, and his eloquence, was likely to make the
desirable impression, and to rouse Henry to a deter-
mination to avenge, upon his kinsman's head, the wrongs 11349]74~
of his country and himself if he could obtain an interview.
But how was that interview to be effected? The duke
was bound by oath not to have any intercourse with
Arundel. The French government, on the ground that
Eichard had been deceived in his suspicions of the duke,
had received the duke himself with the honour due to a
relation ; but it did not follow that the French court
would give offence to the English king by receiving
the deposed and outlawed prelate whom Eichard most
feared. All these things required consideration.

Arundel, however, determined, at the risk of his life,
to make the attempt. Everything was conducted with
the strictest secrecy. According to Leland, he repaired
to Utrecht, there evidently to be in more direct commu
nication with London. As lie was travelling in disguise,
it is not impossible that Froissart was literally correct,
and that he might have visited London itself. But there
seems to have been no object in this : his object was
simply to be able to assure Henry of Bolingbroke that, if
he did embark for England, London — he might say all
England — was prepared to receive him as a great deliverer.
His activity was at this time very great : we trace him to
Ardembourg, Ghent, Oudenarde, Ath, Conde, and Valen
ciennes. At Valenciennes he lodged at " The Swan ;"
and there he remained four days to recover from the
fatigues of travel, and to decide finally upon his plan of
action. At Valenciennes he hired a guide to conduct
him to Paris, distant about 114 miles. He still tra
velled as a friar, and gave it out that he was on a
pilgrimage to St. Maur de Fosses, a town in the Isle of
France, and in the diocese of Paris. He was afraid

456 LIVES OF THE

that, if he was discovered, he would be ordered to leave
the country without effecting his immediate object.

Here he again paused to ascertain where he was to
find the duke, and to know for certain, whether he was or
was not still at Paris. He received information that the
duke had not quitted Paris, and that he had taken up his
abode in a house belonging to Clisson. It was a house
built by Peter de Paipibus, Bishop of Winchester, in the
reign of King John : from him it was called the Hotel de
Winchester, corrupted by the French first into Vinchestre,
and afterwards into Bicetre.

When the disguised friar arrived at the Hotel de Win
chester, the archbishop was at once recognised by the
English retinue ; and his coming was hailed as a sign that
some storm was gathering, and that some measures were
to be proposed for restoring them to their country. They
were eager to tell the archbishop of the wrongs and
insults which their master had received. Xot only had
the king confiscated the estates belonging to the Duchy of
Lancaster, but he had interfered to prevent the marriage
of the duke with the Princess Marie, having described him
as a traitor. The duke had entertained, up to this time,
no traitorous designs, and had formed no idea of obtaining
the crown of England, seeing that he was not the next in
succession. His indignation was great, therefore, when
he was thus represented to the French Court ; and the
first step to be taken, if we wish a man to commit a
possible wrong, is to lay the wrongdoing unjustly to his
charge. If he were to be treated as a traitor he might
as well become a traitor in reality. Such was the state
of Henry's mind at this time ; to which we must add
that it had been clearly made known to him, by the
King of France, that his ladylove lie would never have,
unless she could be dowered on the princely estates of
Lancaster.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 457

The archbishop desired that his arrival should be CHAP.
announced to the Duke of Lancaster, as he was now to ._ T '_
be called, and that the second personage of England J^0^
demanded of him a private interview. It was immedi- 1397~
ately and readily granted. The duke poured out his
griefs to the primate. He complained that the seizure of
his property by the king had been made contrary to the
most solemn oaths on the part of Eichard, that Henry's
exile should not interfere with his right to succeed to his
father's estates. The archbishop represented to the duke
that no property, no life was secure, when upon the
throne there sat a king upon whose word and oatli no
reliance could be placed. He further sanctioned the lax
morality of the age, that to one, who could not himself
be bound by oath, any oath taken might, in common
fairness, be violated. The oath of allegiance was not
binding when the king to whom it was made was him
self a perjured person. This was a recognised principle
of sanctioned immorality, throughout the Eevolution.

The archbishop then opened his mission. He appeared
before the duke the representative of the Londoners, and
in the name of the greater part of the prelates and barons
of England, he called upon Henry of Bolingbroke to come
forward as the deliverer of his country from the oppres
sions of Eichard rf Bordeaux. The family on the throne
was not an English family : French customs, French
tastes, and the French rather than the English language,
prevailed ; and if it were not true that Eichard had
offered to sell his country to the French king for pro
tection against his subjects, it was certain, nevertheless,
that the interests of England were not the first and
foremost consideration with England's sovereign. The
Primate of England, in the name of their common
country, called upon Henry, now Duke of Lancaster,
to come forward as the deliverer of his country : an

458 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, enthusiastic reception, from one end of England to the
-— — r— ^ other, awaited him.

ArundeL Henry made no answer. He foresaw the difficulties,
HU ^ie temptations, the possible consequences of his under
taking the office of deliverer. He looked down from the
window, in the embrasure of which they were standing,
on the garden below, just growing into beauty beneath
the springtide sun. The peaceful enjoyments of a home
with Marie de Berri, only occasionally broken by tl e
excitements of the tournament and the chase — these pre
sented themselves to his mind, and whenever he spoke
it was to express his doubts as to the practicability of the
scheme proposed. Against a king powerful enough to
send the Primate of All England into exile, and to appro
priate to his own use the property of a prince of the blood,
what could be done by a man who could not be sure of a
single ally — his friends in the French Court having already
forsaken him at the first mandate from the powerful
Richard ? Still the archbishop could perceive that, amidst
this tempting indolence, there were the feelings of a strong
mind chafed by unmerited disgrace, and not thoroughly
at ease when compelled to inaction. In his imagination
Henry had before him pictures of peace, but there wai
that within which impelled him to be up and doing; and
before he was fascinated by Marie de Berri, he had vowed
in his mind to visit Palestine, and to die at Jerusalem
The archbishop knew both his weakness and his strength
and closed the conversation by suggesting that the subject
should be discussed at a council formed by the members of
his household — such a council being frequently organised
in the houses of the great. The duke again betrayed a
wavering mind, by saying, as he parted from the arch
bishop, that he hoped some means would be found to
redress his country's wrongs.

The council assembled. The view taken of the subject

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 459

by the retainers of the new Duke of Lancaster was a simple CHAP.

XVTT

one. Their master had been robbed and wronged ; and * , L

robbed and wronged they were in him. How could they Arandei.
receive from him their dues if he was himself deprived ^*97-
of the means of remunerating them for their services?
" Go, and by force of arms -regain your inheritance," was
their advice. The Duke of Lancaster had as much right
to drive robbers from his dukedom as the king had a right
to drive traitors from his kingdom. This was a principle
recognised by the duke, and he could act upon it with a
safe conscience. He would compel the king to restore
him his dukedom, and the Duke of Lancaster would then
return to Paris and claim the hand of Marie. The
archbishop did not, at this time, think of anything more
than the policy of reducing the king to a puppet by ap
pointing a kind of regency, such as that with which he
had been connected, when Bishop of Ely, under the Duke
of Gloucester.

But Paris was not the place for plotting against the son-
in-law of the King of France ; and when Bolingbroke had
decided upon action, he and the primate determined to
proceed to the court of the Duke of Brittany. They pro
ceeded to Blois, where they remained for rather more
than a week ; and here they received friendly communica
tions from the Duke of Brittany, with whom they had an
interview at Nantes. He would have resisted any attempt
upon the throne of Richard ; but when Richard was acting
despotically and unjustly, he fully recognised the right of
the Duke of Lancaster to win his own by his sword, and to
coerce the king to observe the rights and liberties of his
subjects. Although the cases were not actually parallel, yet
they seemed so to him ; and as he should, under similar cir
cumstances, have resisted the King of France, so might
the Duke of Lancaster so far resist the King of England
as to force him to restore his dukedom. The object was

460 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, to secure a place of retreat in the event of failure.
^- '— There was no thought of introducing a foreign army into

Anmdei. England : a foreign invasion, or an attempt to establish
u9i4~ Jllst rignts by foreign lances, would have been, they were
quite aware, resisted by all classes in England.

With only fifteen lances or knights, and a small body of
archers, did Henry of Bolingbroke and Thomas Arundel
sail from one of the ports of Brittany. It was determined
to effect a landing in Yorkshire, where the duke would soon
be in the midst of his own estates and among his own
tenants. They at least would fight in his defence, even if the
rest of the people did not rally round his standard. The
duke touched at several places on the coast, to communicata
with his friends, and to signify the place of rendezvous. His
destination was Bavenspur,* and at Eavenspur he landed
on the 4th of July. The news spread that " Sir Harry of
Derby" with the archbishop was in England, and they
met with an enthusiastic welcome. They started fo*
Pontefract, and were joined at Doncaster by the Percys,
and by other noblemen, who felt that if the property of t,
prince of the blood was not safe, their own security was
uncertain. They were prepared to imitate the Gloucester
Ministry, and to force a ministry upon the king — tc
place the country in the hands of a regency. The
course of this revolution was very similar to that which
was pursued under the revolution effected by William III. :
deliverance from oppression — not the overthrow of a
dynasty — was in both cases what was first designed.

Although all things prospered so far, yet Bolingbroke
and the archbishop could not but feel that their position

* Of Ravenspur in Yorkshire, so celebrated in history, nothing remains.
It was situated on the banks of the Humber ; and by the Humber, in
the course of years, its overthrow was effected. A collection of
documents respecting Ravenspur was published by T. Thompson,
Esq., in 1822.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 461

was perilous. How far or how long the Percys would CHAP.

yield the right of command to Henry was doubtful ; and .._x^IIi_

it was also doubtful, if they at any time seceded, whether J^ndei

their secession would not be imitated by other nobles. 1397~

1414

Then again, although vast numbers flocked to the standard
of Henry, they were for the most part undisciplined; it
would take some little time to organise an army from such
a mixed multitude : for although some of them had been
trained to war, yet who were the trained troops and who not
it was at first difficult to discover. On the other hand the
regent, the Duke of York, was in command of disciplined
troops, and the king was at the head of a powerful and,
we may say, a victorious army in Ireland. If the army
landed safely from Ireland his force would be almost
overwhelming. In Wales the leading Welshmen and the
population were avowedly favourable to Eichard ; and
there an army of forty thousand strong was prepared to
greet him on his arrival in England, and to carry him in
triumph against the Londoners.

Under these circumstances the attentive reader of his
tory will be struck with the strategic skill of Henry of
Bolingbroke. He was not a mere soldier : he had all the
sagacity, the foresight, the presence of mind, and the
genius of a general.

Eichard would, of course, land in Wales, his stronghold.
Bolingbroke proceeded to his own castles at Pontefract
and Knaresborough, and confided them to the custody of
faithful troops and trustworthy officers. He advanced
then upon Leicester and Kenil worth, both his own castles
and towns. Here he made himself secure in the event of
a defeat. The rapidity of his motions, as is always the
case with great generals, caused universal astonishment ;
his proclamations encouraged the people ready to avenge
his wrongs ; his opponents fled before him. Scrope,
Bussy, Green, and Bagot, though under the command of

462 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the bellipotent Bishop of Norwich, fled before him. He
>J ^-'— was now in a condition to treat with the government, at

ArundeL tne hea(l OI* which had been left his uncle, the Duke of
HH" York. From Kenil worth therefore he marched, with all
the pomp of war, through Evesham to Gloucester, and
from Gloucester to Berkeley. At Berkeley he had an
interview with the regent, who withdrew all opposition
when Bolingbroke asserted that he had only come to
defend his rights ; and the primate justified the mainte
nance of popular rights by force of arms. He pursued
the other members of the ministry ; and overtook the.n
at Bristol, where they underwent the fate which usually
awaited an outgoing ministry at that period, and were led
to the block. Bolingbroke then visited London, and wrs
received with a rapture of welcome which baffles all
description. He only remained long enough in London
to graft the trainbands into his army, and then returned
to Gloucester, thence going westward to Eoss and Here
ford. At Hereford the bishop and Lord Mortimer gavo
in their adhesion to the movement; and the army, in
creasing in numbers as it marched, passed through
Leominster, Ludlow, and Shrewsbury, until it arrived a:
Chester, which was to be Bolingbroke's headquarters.
The reader will see that, with the skill of a general,
Bolingbroke was now master of London, Bristol, anc
Chester, with all the fortresses within a triangle, the apex
of which is to be found at Bristol, the base from the
mouth of the Humber to that of the Dee.*

At Chester a halt was made, and the enemy was waited

* I have followed throughout the narrative, reconciling the dis
crepancies, Froissart, the Continuatio Eulogii, The French Metrical
History of the Deposition of Richard II., by Creton, in the Archeeologia,
together with the Chronique de la Trahison et Mort de Richard Deux,
published by the English Hist. Soc. To these works the Notes of the
learned editors are valuable additions.

1397-
1414.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 463

for : it would not have been safe to penetrate within the CHAP.

"\'\TTT

fastnesses of Wales. ^-^.L*

While the army was in progress, the archbishop is said Arandei.
to have preached rebellion from the pulpit, and to have
exhibited a papal bull, granting a plenary indulgence to
all who should join in the rebellion.* But this story is
apocryphal. The author of the Metrical History merely
states that he had heard a report that Henry had com
pelled the archbishop thus to preach ; but I believe that
this statement is not corroborated by any other writer of
the age, though it has been adopted by Stow. It is so
unlikely that Arundel should have been able to obtain
a bull of indulgence from Borne, on so short a notice,
and so unlikely that the pope should commit himself to
either party at such a crisis, that the author of the
Metrical History, when stating the rumour, insinuates that
the publication may have been a mere device on the part
of Arundel.

That Arundel exerted himself, however, on the side of
the insurgents is certain ; and, aided by such a recruiting
sergeant, Bolingbroke found himself with an army suffi
cient, on his arrival at Chester, to take possession of Holt
Castle, in which all Richard's treasure had been lodged,
to the amount of seven hundred thousand pounds.

Here the rebel army waited for news from the
enemy. At length the Duke of Exeterf and the Duke

* In Strutt, 45, there is an engraving of the Archbishop preaching,
taken from an ancient painting. He is represented in his mitre,
arrayed in a splendid cape ; and from the pulpit the bull depends.

j John de Iloland was third son of Thomas, Earl of Kent, by Joan,
daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, son of Edward I. He was uterine
brother to the king, and he was brother-in-law to Henry of Lancaster,
having married his sister Elizabeth. He was a bold bad man. He
was created Earl of Huntingdon on the 2nd of June 1387, and Duke
of Exeter 29th Sept. 1397. lie was vehemently opposed to the
Arundels, and, after the Earl's death, took possession of his residence

464 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of Surrey,* arrived at the camp at Chester, to demand, in

— r—s the king's name, the intentions of the Duke of Lancaster.

Arlmdei. They desired an immediate answer ; but Bolingbroke's

ml" plans were not matured ; and, remarking that the king

had not paid regard to their rank when he selected them

to be his messengers, he expressed his regret that he

should be obliged to place them in custody, as he should

not be prepared with his answer for at least a week. All

these circumstances must be duly considered if we would

understand the character of the proceedings we are abo at

to narrate.

At the present time the disposition on the part of
Bolingbroke and his supporters was to come to terms wit li
the king. If he would restore the duke and the arch
bishop, and give security for good government for the
future, they would have gained all that they, at this
time, required. They were, in fact, in no condition to
make very high demands. The news had reached them
that the Earl of Salisbury was at the head of an army
of forty thousand strong, consisting of the Cheshire men
and the Welsh, all loyal to the king. Then came thi
news that the king had disembarked an army of thirty -
two thousand men at Milford Haven. He had actually
landed at Pembroke, according to the Chronique de Li
Trahison ; but the news of his having brought over &
large army was correct. Bolingbroke looked on these
things with the eye of a general, and felt the difficulty ol'
conducting a campaign against such an army in any
enemy's country, and Wales was to be regarded as such.

in London, called Cold Harbour, in the parish of All Saints. The
king gave him all the furniture of Arundel Castle. He was degraded
in the parliament of 1399, and beheaded in 1400.

* Thomas Holand, third Earl of Kent, was created Duke of Surrey
29th September 1397. He was Earl Marshal and a Knight of the
Garter. He was degraded from the dukedom in parliament 1399, and
beheaded in 1400.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 465

The Duke of York was aware of the anxiety felt in CHAP.
the council of Henry ; and when the Duke of Surrey ^3^1
was giving vent to his indignation at the treatment which A^dd
the king's messengers had received, the Duke of York 11349174~
consoled him by expressing his own conviction : " Fair
cousin, be not angry. If it please Heaven, all things will
yet be well."

But a change soon came over the scene. Spies,
deserters, and scouts brought in word that the Earl of
Salisbury's army, impatient at the delay of the king, who
had lost much precious time in Ireland, had dispersed.
The news also came, that Eichard's own army, immediately
after its landing, had mutinied, and had robbed the king
of his robes, jewels, gold, silver, horses, and of all his
splendid wardrobe — of everything, in short, which would
have enabled him, when sold, to supply himself with the
sinews of Avar. The followers of the two dukes, and the
dukes themselves, when questioned, could not deny the fact.
It was indeed on account of the king's distress that they
had themselves made their appearance in Bolingbroke's
camp. The whole subject now assumed a new aspect,
and a council was held, as to the course which, under these
altered circumstances, should be pursued.

At this council, the archbishop was urgent for peaceful
measures. He reminded Henry that, from its mountains,
Wales was a defensible country, and that the sea was
open to the king if he thought lit to call in the assistance
of his father-in-law, the King of France — a threat which
he had often uttered. He recommended that, even under
their improved circumstances, an amicable message should
be sent to Eichard, requiring that a parliament should be
summoned, that those who were guilty of the murder of
his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, should be punished, and
that the king and Henry should once more become friends.
The king would of course know what the summoning of

n
VOL. IV. H H

466 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the parliament meant. A parliament elected under sheriffs

VXTTT

__r— appointed by Henry would immediately appoint a council,

ArandS who, in the king's name, would conduct the affairs of the

14 u~ country. Their very allusion to Gloucester implied this;

and as this was, at the beginning, all that Bolingbroke

and the archbishop had proposed to themselves, there is

no reason why we should suspect the advice of insincerity,

as some historians have thought fit to do.

In a few days, however, all things were changed. The
very men who were, at first, urgent for a proposal of
peace, or compromise, became so enraged, that nothing
short of a revolution would satisfy them ; but for this
we can account.

It was made known that the king was now with a very
small force at Conway Castle. It was not known at Ches
ter how utterly ruined he w^as, or to what complete desti
tution he was reduced. The Earl of Northumberland was
appointed to convey the ultimatum of the insurgents to
the king, and he went, attended by four hundred lancee
and a thousand archers. Not knowing the condition of the
king, he had the precaution to take this large escort, lest
Eichard should deal with him as Henry had dealt with
the Holands. But so utterly destitute was Eichard at
Conway, that with this force he might have been made
a prisoner at once. There was no necessity for perjury
or for ambush : when Northumberland reached Conway
Eichard was as much in his power as he was afterwards
at Flint. Northumberland, in order not to leave an
enemy behind him, had on his way to Conway, and
about ten miles distant from it, taken Ehuddlan Castle,
a place nearly impregnable, but which was at once
surrendered to him. Here he intended that the king
should dine if the terms were accepted which he was
going to Conway to propose.

When Northumberland arrived at Conway, and was

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 467

admitted into the royal presence, he assured the king, that CHAP.
what he was about to offer was offered in good faith, and J^
that by the terms, the parties he represented were pre- Imn^ei
pared to abide. He stated that what Henry required was 11^~
that a parliament should be convened at Westminster ;
that Henry should be made grand justiciary of the king
dom ; that before the parliament should be arraigned the
Dukes of Exeter and Surrey, the Earl of Salisbury, and
Merks Bishop of Carlisle,* the parties who had urged the
king to put the Duke of Gloucester to death ; that
Eichard should then be king and lord, with Henry for
his justiciary, who would come and on his knees ask for
pardon. Northumberland concluded by requesting that
the Holy Eucharist might be consecrated, that he might
swear upon the host to the observance of these terms.

The terms here offered it had been, throughout, the object
of the party to procure. There is no reason to believe that
at that time more than this was required. Henry was the
kind of man who would have preferred the peaceable
acquisition of substantial power ; and peace was desired
by the archbishop, when vengeance had been taken upon
those who had instigated the murders of Arundel and
Gloucester, and upon the king himself by thus humbling
his haughty spirit.

* Thomas Merks, Merk, or Newmarket, de novo mercatu, was born
at Newmarket; and became a Benedictine monk of Westminster. He
was Vicar of Stourminster and Todenham, August 13, 14/4. He
became Bishop of Carlisle in 1397, being consecrated at Rome His
name is had in honour for the speech he is supposed to have made
against the deposition of Richard II. That he never delivered such a
speech as that which is attributed to him, that he was a mere tool of
the maladministration of Richard's arbitrary reign, and that he was
not faithful to Henry, is shown by Bishop Kennett, in his third letter
to the Bishop of Carlisle concerning Bishop Merks. Merks was de
prived of his see for treason, by Henry IV. ; and the pope appointed
him titular of Cephalonia. He died in 1409, and was buried at
Todenham English Chron. 167, 171. Kennett. Webb.

H H 2

468 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Eegarclless as men, at this time, were of the sanctity

_XVL_- of an oath, no one would, even then, have volunteered

Armldei. an oat^' w^en no object was to be effected by perjury.

1397- if Northumberland had merely designed to take Eichard

to his enemy, he might have given the word of command

to his four hundred lances and his thousand archers,

and it was as easy to make him a prisoner at Conway,

as it was when he was ten miles nearer to Chester.

But of a sudden we find men and measures all changed.
Henry and the archbishop became impassioned : the for
mer exhibited feelings of contempt and hatred towards
Eichard, which the primate, when himself mollified, found
it difficult to keep within bounds. Northumberland, instead
of leading Eichard with all respect to his kingly office, as
he at first purposed, to the camp at Chester, makes hin
a prisoner and places him under restraint, confines hirr.
in Flint Castle, and sends to Henry for further orders.
For all this, through the gossiping propensity of one of
Eichard's suite, we are able to account.

When the proposals were made to Eichard, he retired
to consult his friends as to the policy it would be expe
dient for him to adopt. He stated that he must grant
the requests which had been made to him : " Things are
desperate," he said : " you must perceive this as well as
I can do. But I swear to you, whatsoever assurances I
may give to this man he shall die. I will enter into secret
correspondence with the Welsh ; through them I shall
regain my power ; and that regained, in any way, death
shall be the award to Henry and his partisans. Some
there are whom I will flay alive. Not all the gold in
all the land will I take for them if I continue alive and
well."

After this he recalled the earl. He solemnly pledged
himself to support his part of the covenant, and signified
his readiness to start immediately for Chester. He

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 469

requested the earl to precede him to Ehuddlan to have CHAP.
dinner prepared, and after dinner they would proceed on . -XVII
their journey. ™3

It is one of the characteristics of a weak, vain, passion- l^~
ate man that he cannot keep his own counsel. Eichard
probably revealed to others besides his council what he
regarded as a clever manoeuvre ; and certainly what
was known to the gossiping Cret0n who records the
speech was likely to be known to others. The royal in
tentions were divulged to Northumberland at Ehud
dlan ; and instead of taking Eichard on to Chester, where
he was to have been received with at least the outward
demonstrations of respect, he sent him a prisoner to
Flint Castle. As the king was attended only by twenty-
two persons ; and as Northumberland, besides his lances
and archers, could command the friendly garrison at Ehud
dlan, the tale of his lying in ambush for the little party on
its way to Ehuddlan — where they had agreed to dine,
and where they did dine — is not of much importance.

The king had declared his intention not to observe his
oath and bond, but to watch his time to put those to
death who were now dealing mercifully with him : and
his opponents seemed to themselves to have no further
choice. Die they must, or else the king must be
deposed. Terms with Eichard they would no longer
make. Henry marched the next day from Chester with a
hundred thousand men to take his prisoner to London.
The archbishop, however, preceded him. He was no
longer the advocate for peace. He entered the royal pre
sence, and rudely upbraided the king, calling him the
most false of men : " I swear upon the body of our Lord
thou didst solemnly promise me that my brother should
receive no harm. I brought him into thy presence, and
never did I see him again. Thou didst promise me when
I was sent into exile that thou wouldst speedily recall me,

470 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, and thou yet didst endeavour to have me murdered, and
XVII1^ didst appoint another archbishop in my place. Thou hast
^u°ndei as king r°bbed the nation ; thou hast unlawfully taxed the
1397- people — not for the good of the country, for which thou
hast never cared, but for the indulgence of thy avarice
and pride. Thou hast promoted the vilest of the people to
be thy counsellors, overwhelmed them with gifts and fol
lowed their counsels. The counsels of the chief men in
the state, thy own relations, thou hast neglected and
despised, because they would have restrained thy extrava
gance by suitable regulations, such as the constitution sup
plied and the state of the country demanded. Thou hast
doomed them to death, and, not content with this, thou
hast sought to ruin their families by killing their heirs.
Thou hast acted as a tyrant, but thy decrees shall now be;
naught. Incontinently hast thou lived, and by thy base
example thou hast defiled thy court and thy country/
While thus he was multiplying words, the king merely
stopped him by saying in a supplicating tone, " Sufficit,
sufficit :" and not having anything to urge in his defence,
— non habens quomodo se defenderet, — expressed his
readiness to resign his crown.*

* Continuatio Eulogii, 382. Most of the historians speak of the kind
ness of the archbishop, and that he exerted himself to console the king.
The two accounts are reconciled in the narrative given above. It is
fair to Arundel, when we are narrating what we should now regard as
brutality, to state that such an outbreak as that which is given above
was not unusual in those days. On one occasion, when Richard was
in London, the Duke of York and his son the Earl of Rutland, the
king's uncle and his cousin, forced themselves into his presence, when
Richard, looking fiercely upon his uncle, with an oath, exclaimed :
" Thou villain ! what hast thou to say to me ? " And turning abruptly
from his uncle to his cousin, he continued : " And thou, thou traitor
Rutland, thou art not worthy to speak to thy king — no, nor to bear the
name of duke, earl, or knight ! Thou, and yon villain, thy father,
foully have ye betrayed me. It was by your false counsel my uncle of
Gloucester died." "You lie !" cried Rutland, casting his bonnet at the

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 471

The king, who at Conway was boasting of the vengeance CHAP.
he would take on his enemies when he should regain his ^__E^El
power (as he had little doubt, by the cunning which he AmS
mistook for wisdom, to do) had become so mentally pros- 1397~
trate when he was led a captive into Flint Castle, that he
was now an object of pity. From this time it is difficult
to say whether he was a sane man or not. They who
maintain that he escaped from Pomfret and took refuge
in Scotland represent him as reduced by his misfortunes
to a state of idiotcy. His conduct from this time until
he disappears from history gives countenance to the report.

The alteration in the royal demeanour certainly had its
effect upon Arundel. All his ancient animosity had been
aroused and burst into a flame when it was made known
in Henry's camp that Richard had revealed his policy, in
tending to treat with his adversaries merely to entrap
them, in order that, when entrapped, they might be de
stroyed as vermin. But when he saw the fallen king abject
in his misery, the better nature in Arundel prevailed ; and,
though resolved to depose him, he thenceforth treated
him with all the kindness and consideration that circum
stances would permit. The Earl of Salisbury reports that
the archbishop comforted the king in a very gentle
manner. The two things are perfectly intelligible to
those who have any knowledge of human nature. A man
may be firm even to harshness in carrying out a principle,
and at the same time exhibit a sensitiveness (which is per
fectly real as far as it goes) when lie is eyewitness of
the sufferings he has caused. Buonaparte could sacrifice
thousands of lives for the purposes of his ambition ; but
in the field of battle, amid the dying and the dead, he
would weep.

king's feet. " I am thy king and lord," shouted Richard, " and will
continue king and greater lord than ever I was in spite of all my
Truly the age of chivalry was not the age of refinement !

472 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. It would seem that when he saw his enemy prostrate

..xVL..x and at his mercy, Arundel's thirst for revenge was satiated;

ArunTi. and though he could not desert his party, and though he

1397- may have felt that the lives of himself and his friends

could not be safe so long as Eichard remained on the

throne, he pitied the fallen man ; even as a surgeon may

commiserate the sufferer upon whom he is about to

operate. Knowing Richard's character, he consoled him

by promising that his life should be spared, and that

his abdication should not deprive him of the luxuries to

which he had been from childhood accustomed.

Henry of Bolingbroke was also an altered man. Ho
had not the sensitiveness of Arundel, but he had ;i
conscience, which, though unheeded, would make itself
heard. Exasperated against Eichard, whom he had wished
to treat with consideration, he did not thenceforth pre
tend to conceal his hatred. Through his self-condemna
tion he became morose and suspicious, and the sufferings
of his mind soon exhibited themselves in that disease
which brought him to a premature grave.

By the time Henry reached Flint Castle, with an army
of a hundred thousand men, to convince Eichard that
resistance would be henceforth in vain, the archbishop
had been for some time closeted with the king, endeavour
ing to reconcile him to an inevitable fate, and to induce
him to act with dignity in the presence of his conqueror.
He persuaded Bolingbroke, when he arrived, to give the
king time ; and it was arranged that the former should
not enter the castle till after dinner. Eichard prolonged
the meal, that he might defer his humiliation as long as
possible, until he began to fear that Bolingbroke's patience
would be exhausted. He then descended into the court
of the castle, and conducted himself with unusual self-
composure.

Eichard was carried to Chester, where writs in his

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 473

name were issued to summon a parliament, and a pro- CHAP.

clamation to keep the king's peace. The archbishop • ^-

accompanied the army — which, without striking a blow, Arundei.
had gained such an unexpected victory — to London. J*JJ~
Their route lay through Nantwich, Newcastle-under-Lyne,
Stafford, Lichfield, Daventry, Dunstable, and St. Albans.
At Lichneld the king, letting himself down from a
window, had nearly escaped ; but, except this occurrence,
no trouble was given to the victors, they being every
where received with transports of enthusiasm. At a dis
tance of five or six miles from London, the Lord Mayor,
with his sword of state, accompanied by all the guilds of
the city, were in waiting to receive the conquering hero.
The cry of the populace was, " Long live Sir Harry of
Derby!" or "The good Duke of Lancaster for ever!"
That a kingdom should have been conquered in two
months by his strategic skill was regarded as more than
a proof of good generalship — it pointed out the man who
ought to be king. He was compared to Alexander the
Great. To the city authorities Henry presented Eichard,
saying : " Fair sirs, here is your king ; consider what you
will do with him." Eejecting him as a visitor to the
city, they directed that he should be taken to his palace
at Westminster, whither he was sent, — in fact, a prisoner.
Shakspeare's description is literally true :

"The duke, great Bolingbroke,
Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed,
Which his aspiring rider seemed to know,
With slow but stately pace kept on his course,
While all tongues cried, 'Grod save thee, Bolingbroke !
You would have thought the very windows spake,
So many greedy looks of young and old
Through casements darted their devouring eyes
Upon his visage ; and that all the walls,
With painted imag'ry, had said at once,
' Jesu preserve thee ! welcome Bolingbroke !'

474 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. While he, from one side to the other turning,

XVII. Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck,

Thomas Bespake them thus, ( I thank you, countrymen : '

A1r^1' And thus still doing, thus he passed along."

1414.

As to Eichard :

tf No man cried, God save him !
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home ;
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head,
Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off,
His face still combating with tears and smiles,
The badges of his grief and patience,
That had not Grod for some strong purpose steeled
The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted,
And barbarism itself have pitied him."

The archbishop had, in the meantime, gone to St. Paul';}.
There by the clergy he was welcomed back to his own ;
and at their head he received " the deliverer " of th 3
country, as in military pomp he and his suite approached
the great western door, thrown open for his reception.
With sacerdotal ceremony Henry was led up the nave,
until he reached the steps of the high altar, where he
knelt long in silent prayer. He then turned to his father's
tomb, which was at its side. He had not, of course, seer
it before ; and he wept over it, with that profusion ol'
tears which men of that age seem always to have had at
command.

As in the Eevolution of 1688, so in this revolution of
1399, it was determined that every form of law should
be strictly observed, so far as this could be done when a
change in the executive was to be effected. Until the
reign of Edward IV., the right of succession to the throne
claimed by the direct heir of the reigning monarch was
not known to our constitution. The old Saxon principle
still lingered in men's minds : one of the royal family
was to sit on the throne, but the country was at liberty to

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 475

reject the immediate heir, if substantial reasons could be CHAP.
adduced for such a measure. The form of this principle ^xvn
is still retained in our Coronation Office. The primate J^e
presents the person claiming to be sovereign to the three 13974~
estates of the realm — the clergy, the lords, and the
commons — and demands whether they are prepared
to do him service. At one time it was in the power
of the people to refuse, just as it was considered in the
fourteenth century constitutional for good reasons to
withdraw, their allegiance. The question which perplexes
some modern historians as to the right of Henry to the
throne afforded, though some, yet very little perplexity to
Arundel and the chief actors in the Eevolution of 1399.
Their difficulty was to declare the throne vacant. If once
the throne were vacant, Henry might claim it as the
fittest member of the royal family to occupy it, and all
that would then be required would be the acceptance of
his claim by the people.

The substantial power being in Bolingbroke's hands,
nothing was done in a hurry. Henry himself remained
for five or six days in the palace of the Bishop of London ;
he passed another fortnight in the Hospital of St. John,
without Smithfield ; he then went to Hertford, where he
remained for three weeks. The archbishop, in the mean
time, had accepted for the third time the office of chan
cellor,* but only until the Great Seal could be confided
to a person upon whom lie and the revolutionary party
could implicitly rely. Such a person was John de Scarle,
Master of the Eolls and Archdeacon of Lincoln. He had,
when Arundel was chancellor before, acted occasionally
as his locum tenens ; and, after ten days, the archbishop
resigned in his favour.

I shall not narrate in detail the interview of the arch-

* Hardy, 46. The exact date of Arundel's appointment is not
known, further than that it took place in the month of August.

4 70 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, bishop with the unfortunate monarch, because the official

XVII

^—r—* report is obviously garbled. But all parties agree in
AmndeL representing his conduct to have been as considerate,
HH~ conciliatory, and kind as the circumstances would admit:
Arundel was placable, and was now appeased.*

The revolutionary party, knowing the insincerity of the
king and the insecurity of popular favour, determined
to implicate parliament in the revolution now in progress.
The king might resign, but on a turn of fortune he
might rescind the resignation ; and, by a new parliament,
those who \vere now at the head of affairs might be
arraigned as traitors. But the whole nation would te
involved in the act, if the king were deposed. Revolution,
the act of all, is to be distinguished from rebellion, the act
of a party.

The policy of the revolutionists had been fully arrange I
before the meeting of parliament. The parliament, as
arranged at Chester, met on the morrow of St. Michael's:,
the 30th of September. The promise made by Richard
to the Earl of Northumberland, when in Wales, that 1m
would resign the crown, was then advanced ; and it was
also affirmed that the king was prepared to give effect to
his promise by a public act. It was added, that he

* We can have little doubt that recourse was had to harsh measures
to compel Richard to resign. Northumberland asserted, in the hearing
of Hardyng, that he was forced to it under the fear of death ; and Nor
thumberland must have known all that occurred. To Henry's face he
published the fact : " Tu ipsum Dominum tuum et regem nostrum
imprisonasti infra turrim London, quousque resignaverat metu mortis
regna Anglia? et Francise." — Chron. 352, 353 ; Notes to Creton, 196.
We can reconcile the apparently contradictory statements by reference
to the character of the parties concerned. Henry would not hesitate
to resort to harsh measures, if necessary ; but, knowing how he should
reprobate such conduct in others, he shrank from avowing it. Richard's
levity, on some occasions, offered the opportunity, which Henry de
sired, of making it appear that he did not act under more constraint
than was implied in his imprisonment.

ARCHBISHOPS OP CANTERBURY. 477

desired first to have some private conversation with his CHAP.
two cousins, namely, the Duke of Lancaster, and the Arch- . — ,-J
bishop of Canterbury. I^i

The duke and the archbishop attended upon the king l^~
after dinner, having, intentionally or by accident, kept
him waiting. They did not come alone, but several other
lords were in attendance. These all bore witness that the
king, with a cheerful voice, signified his readiness to
renounce the crown ; and that he constituted the Arch
bishop of York and the Bishop of Hereford proctors, to
inform the parliament that, if it lay in his power, he should
nominate the Duke of Lancaster to succeed him in his
kingdom. He had taken his signet-ring also from his own
finger, and had placed it on the finger of the duke. He
read distinctly the schedule containing the form of resig
nation, and absolved his people from their allegiance.

Much stress was laid upon the cheerfulness of the king :
he seems to have indulged in some bitter and sarcastic
jokes (men have joked on the scaffold), of which Henry
took advantage. Knowing the insincere character and
sanguine temperament of Eichard, we cannot but think
that he had made up his mind to yield to circumstances,
and then to trust to the chapter of accidents to enable
him, even yet, to triumph over his enemies.

On the morrow — Tuesday, the Feast of St. Jerome — the
two houses of parliament assembled in Westminster Hall.
It had lately been repaired and decorated by the unfor
tunate monarch upon whose deposition the parliament
was resolved. The lords spiritual and temporal were
arranged as usual ; and the Duke of Lancaster sat as one
of the peers. The chair of state, the royal throne, covered
with cloth of gold, stood in the accustomed place at the
head of the hall, unoccupied. The Archbishop of York
and the Bishop of Hereford, acting by the king's orders,
handed in the schedule which contained the renunciation

478 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, of the crown by King Kichard. It was read by the

XVII

-— r— — clerk of parliament, in Latin and in English. The
Arundei. question was then put to the estates and people there

HH' present, whether it would be for their interest and the
wellbeing of the kingdom that such renunciation and
cession should be accepted. It was for Lord Thomas,
Archbishop of Canterbury, to give the first vote, and lie
gave it in the affirmative. Then each peer singly, and in
common with the people, unanimously accepted the king's
resignation.

It was resolved, as we have -said, that, besides the resig
nation, the king should be deposed — that the crown should
be declared forfeited on account of the king's misgovern-
ment. The Coronation Oath was therefore read ; and th s
was followed by thirty-three articles of accusation against
the king, designed to prove that the oath had been vio
lated by Eichard. When the articles had been read,
a committee was appointed, empowered to pronounce
sentence of deposition upon Eichard. After some dis
cussion on the mode of proceeding, the commissioners
took their place on a tribunal in front of the throne ;
and on the behalf, in the name, and by the authority of
parliament they pronounced the sentence of deposition —
which sentence was reduced to writing and duly signed.
The throne now being vacant, Henry Duke of Lan
caster rose from his seat, and, standing erect, so that he
could be seen by all the people in the crowded hall,
having signed himself with the sign of the cross on his
forehead and on his breast, and having invoked the name
of the Lord, he laid claim to the vacant kingdom, speaking,
as became him, in his mother tongue : —

In the name of Fader, Son, and Holy Grhost, I Henry of Lan
caster, chalenge this rewme of Ynglonde, and the crown, with
all the members and the appurtenances; als 1 that am descendit
be right line of the blode, comyng fro the gude lord King

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 479

Henry Therde, and tbroghe that right that God of His grace CHAP,

hath sent mee, with helpe of my kyn and of my frendes, to x\ II.

recover it. The which rewme was in poynt to be ondone for Thomas

defaut of governance, and undoyng of the glide lawes. 1397-

Before the question could be put whether the claim
were a valid one, the answer was already given by the
loud universal shout which spread from the crowd within
to the mob without, calling upon God to save King Henry
IV., and uttering a prayer that he might have long to live.
The duke, amidst the uproar of enthusiasm, exhibited
to the commissioners the royal signet, to show that the
late king agreed with the people in recognising his right
to the throne.

The two archbishops approached the duke, knelt
before him, and led him to the throne. The flush of
triumph was on Arundel's haughty brow. The promises
he had made to the exiled Bolingbroke had been more
than fulfilled ; his brother's blood had been avenged.
Let us hope that some satisfaction was felt at his having
been instrumental in liberating his country from a
thoughtless, selfish, and cruel despotism.

Before the chair of state, on the steps, Henry for a
brief space was prostrate in prayer. One would like to
know what was then passing in the mind of one who,
doubting whether he was doing right or wrong, was not
a man living without God in the world. When he rose
from his knees, he was placed upon the throne by the two
metropolitans, " all the people shouting wonderfully for

joy-"

It was long before the archbishop could obtain a hear
ing from "the overjoyed multitude;" but when silence
was at length procured, he addressed them in a short
discourse or oration : —

"Vir dominabitur populo." — A man shall reign over
my people. — (1 Sam. ix. 17.)

480 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. " These are the words of the King of kings, addressed
r— ' to Samuel, and teaching him how a person should be

ArundeL qualified to rule, since the people desired to have a king
HH~ given- And not unfitly may they be said of our Lord
the king upon whom we this day look. If we closely
examine these words, they afford us matter of no little
consolation ; for God does not threaten us, as He cid
formerly His people by Isaiah, saying (Isa. iii.) 'I will
make children to rule over them/ But according to IQs
compassion, He who in His wrath remembereth meroy
hath visited His people, and now no longer shall children
lord it over us ; for the Lord saith, ' A man shall rule.*
Of the late rulers of this kingdom, or any of them, one
might have truly said that of the Apostle (1 Cor. xii,)
' I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thoug.it
as a child.' The Apostle repeats it thrice : as a child I
spake, I understood, and thought. As to speech, it is
certain that a child is inconsistent in his talk ; he easiy
speaks true, and he as easily utters a falsehood ; he is
ready in words to promise, but what he promises }.e
almost immediately forgets. Now this sort of thing in
a king is in the highest degree inconvenient and dan
gerous : it is utterly impossible that any realm can con
tinue prosperous or happy under such conditions is
these.

" From such mischiefs a kingdom is happily free 1
when the sceptre is swayed by a man. It pertains to a
man to set a watch upon his tongue ; and such is our
present happiness, over whom no longer a child but .1
man is set, — such a man, as I hope we may say of him
that in Eccles. ix., 'Blessed is the man that hath not
erred with his tongue.' Then saith the apostle, 'I
understood as a child.' Now a child relishes nothing
but flatteries and things pleasant to the ear ; he under
stands only baubles and trifles ; he has no pleasure ir

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 481

anyone who argues according to truth — yea, indeed, hates CHAP.
him above all measure. Heretofore amongst us truth » — L, — ^
was trampled under foot, so that none durst speak it, ArandeL
and therefore it is plain and apparent enough that he 11349174~
that then reigned understood as a child. For a man is
not addicted to such things, but understands wisdom, so
that by the grace of God it may be said of him as it is
written (Eccles. ix.), 'Blessed is the man that abideth in
wisdom.' For as a child is delighted in vanity, so a
man has regard to truth and wisdom. Truth, therefore,
shall enter and vanity depart, which has done so much
mischief in our nation ; for now a man shall rule who
seeks after truth, and not vanity or flattery. Thirdly, it
is said, ' I thought as a child.' A child thinks and
studies how to have his own way, and how to do things
not according to reason but according to his own will.
Therefore when a child reigns there only selfwill reigns :
thence reason is banished, and constancy is put to flight,
and great is the danger that ensues. From this danger
we are happily delivered, for a man rules over us, — to
wit, one that speaks not like a child, but thus, as one that
has the perfection of reason, ' I come not to do my own
will but the will of Him that sent me,' — to wit, of God.
Therefore, of such a man we will say not only that he
will abide in wisdom, but also that as a man, not a child,
he will meditate on the circumspection of God : that is,
he will, in every way, diligently observe that God's will
not his own be done ; and so, in the stead of a child
wantoning in foolish stubborn humours, a man shall reign,
and such a man that it shall be said of him, ' A king-
shall reign in wisdom, and he shall execute judgment
and do justice in the earth.' '

The king now rose from his throne and addressing his
subjects, declared his intention of maintaining the rights
and liberties of the people, of supporting the dignity of

VOL. IV. I I

482 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, the crown, and of vindicating the honour of the country.
— rr-* The principal officers of state were then sworn, as in

Thomas „ -\ T

Anmdei. the case or a new reign, and measures were taken for the
H u7 preservation of the peace of the country. Parliament was
dissolved, and a new parliament was called, to meet on
the Oth of October. The coronation was appointed to
take place at Westminster, on the Feast of St. Edward.
Amidst a renewed uproar of shouts, King Henry IV.
then rose from the throne, and with a joyful coun
tenance, bowing to the people, retired to his private
apartments. The archbishop accompanied him, and par
took of the splendid feast which the king gave to the two
houses of parliament and others among his partisans in
the Whitehall.

On Monday the 6th of October the two houses of par
liament again assembled in the great hall of Westminster
King Henry IV. was, without the crown, seated on the
throne. By his command the archbishop was directed tc
declare that this parliament had been summoned by King
Eichard to be held the Tuesday next before, but that
the summons had been annulled and made void by the
resignation and deposition of the said king. He then told
them "that this most famous realm, abounding in all
felicities, had been long governed by children and young
counsellors, and would have been utterly ruined and
wasted had not God sent a wise and discreet man to
rule over the same, — one who meant, by God's help, to
be governed himself by the wise and old heads of the
realm."

After this, he took for his text the following words
from Maccabees : " Incumbit nobis ordinare pro regno,"
i.e., "It is the king's will to be governed by the honourable,
discreet, and sage meii of the realm, and by their common
consent, and not by his mere will and caprice." He
further laid great stress on this, " That this nation, of any

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 483

under the sun, mi^ht best support and live within itself," CHAP.

"V"\7"TT

alleging for authority this adage, "Quod inter regna hoc - — f-^
prineipatum tenet." To this he added, " That to every Arundel.
good government three things were required — first, l^~
justice ; next, that the laws should be duly observed ;
and, lastly, that every degree of men, in their several
vocations, should be encouraged and protected." He
brought many reasons why this nation ought to be well
governed, and that their new king was determined to
observe strictly the principles just laid down.

He then adjourned the parliament to the Tuesday
following.

On Monday, the Feast of the Translation of St. Edward
the Confessor (the 13th of October 1399), Arundel offi
ciated at the coronation of Henry IV. He appeared in a
cope bordered with gold, his mitre being also striped and
flowered with the same precious metal. He was assisted
by the Archbishop of York. The Archbishop of Canter
bury sat at the king's right hand at the feast.

The reader will have observed that, from the moment
of his return to England, Arundel resumed the functions
of the primacy. He did not acknowledge the existence
of Walden. To have procured any act to denote his own
restoration would have been tacitly to acknowledge the
rights of the usurper. He would not submit to any new
collation, or permit himself to be restored by any new
Bull of Provision. He insisted that his translation to St.
Andrews had been null from the beginning, as to that
translation he had never given his consent. On the 6th
of October 1399, a convocation was held at St. Paul's by
the prior and convent of Canterbury, without reference to
Walden. During the vacancy of the see or the exile of
the primate, they possessed the metropolitan jurisdiction.
The fact of their exercising this power, without any form
of resignation on the part of Walden, was, in effect, to

I i 2

484 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, pronounce him to be a usurper. On the llth of October,
tidel resumed his seat as president of the convocation,
he resumed it as his own from which he had never

1114" keen canonically ejected. Boniface IX. assented to the
statement, resorting to the usual papal subterfuge that
he had legislated in ignorance of the real state of the
case, the facts not having been correctly stated to him.*
Nevertheless, before the coronation, he had the precau
tion to procure letters-patent restoring him to the see.

On the 23rd of October, the archbishop charged the
Lords, on the part of the king, that what would be stated
to them should not be repeated out of the House. A.
secret committee was formed. The Earl of Northumberland
then asked, for the safety of the king and all the estatee
of the realm, what measures should be taken for placing
Eichard, the late king, in security, saving his life, which
the king willed should, under all circumstances, be pre
served. The lords spiritual and temporal being severally
questioned, answered one and all, that he should be
placed in safe and secret custody, that he should be well
guarded, and that none of his former servants should be
allowed to approach him.f The question whether
Eichard died at Pomfret, or whether he escaped to Scot
land, is still under discussion. A letter of ArundePs in
the British Museum may throw some light upon the
subject. It was written to Henry IV. in 1407, when
Arundel was for the fourth time chancellor. It has
reference to a proposed peace with Scotland ; and the
chancellor asks for time to draw up the proper docu-

* " Tune Bonifacius papa, cum regem a duce Lancastriae superatum
acceperat, Rogerum Walden, tanquam invasorem atque praedonem,
de arcliiepiscopali celsitudine, postquara earn duobus annis occupasset
dejeci(\,eo quod prsesumpserat ascendere cubile viventis patris sui."
Parker, 409.

f Rot, Parl. iii. 427.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 485

ments, with the forms of which he was not familiar. On CHAP.

one condition, he suggests that a peace should be made, ,—

namely that the Scots should not harbour the king's ^Se
enemies, and that they should deliver up the fatuous 11^~
person — ilium fatuum — calling himself King Eichard, so
that no Christian blood might be shed without purpose.
He says that by that " ydolum " calling himself King
Eichard, many contentions, insurrections, and schisms
had been caused among the king's lieges.* This shows
that an impostor, as Arundel regarded him, existed, and
that it was worth while for the Government to have
possession of him.

After the deposition of Eichard, Arundel, having
avenged his brother's death, did not take that prominent
part in public affairs by which he had hitherto been dis
tinguished. Nevertheless, Henry IV. found him one of
the few who remained faithful to him to the last ; and
though he had no ambition for public office, his services
were always at the king's command. For the convenience
of the king he accepted the Great Seal in 1407,f and
again in 1412.J In the foreign negotiations of 1411,
arising out of the Orleans and Burgundian factions, he
visited the Continent as an ambassador. § But his chief
care was to assist the king in his pecuniary difficulties.
These were at times very great, and the king — and, what
is more, his parliament — dared not tax the people. By a

* MS. Cott. Vesp. f. vii. fol. 88. The letter, which is imperfect
and in Latin, is printed in the Archrcologia, xxiii.

•f Rot. Glaus. 8, Henry IV. m. 23. He retained office on this occasion
until the 21st December 1409.

J Hardy's Catalogue, 48. He held office on this occasion till the
death of Henry IV. in March, 1413. He was not reappointed by
Henry V.

§ See Foedera, iv. Parl. Hist. 2, p. 194, et passim. Arundel's name
is not mentioned, but his absence from a convocation held this year is
attributed to his being on an embassy.

486 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, remission of taxes the king purchased his popularity ; and

-,ni, his title would have been questioned, by all who were un-

AnmdeL willing to pay, if they were imposed. In Arundel he found
1397- a friend in his need. When, in 1400, money was indispen
sable to protect the country from invasions which threat
ened it from the North and on the coast, the archbish< >p
suggested a voluntary contribution from the peers, and a
grant to the king, for his own use, of the estates forfeited
under the rebellion which, headed by the Earls of Kent,
Salisbury, and Huntingdon, had just been put down. The
Lords Spiritual and Temporal contributed largely, anil
Arundel managed the other clergy so well that not a year
passed without the convocation of a synod ; and thesa
synods were always induced to vote the required sub
sidies.

The clergy had for the last thirty years been continu
ally assailed, and they felt that their possessions were in
jeopardy. They were, in these lawless times, alarm'ed by
the threatenings addressed to them from various quarters
and the Lollards, now become a political sect, sometime*
succeeded in obtaining a majority in parliament, at which
attacks were immediately made upon the clerical order —
in the shape of petitions to the king, or (as we should now
say) of bills, introduced to cause annoyance, or to give
an indulgence to party spite, without expectation of their
being carried.

The most extraordinary assault of the kind was that
which was made by the Parliamentum indocturn, or the
Lack-learning Parliament, held at Coventry in 1404.
From this parliament (to please the lower orders, it may be
presumed) all lawyers were excluded.* The clergy were,

* The chancellor, in summoning this parliament, inserted in the writs
a prohibition that no apprentice or other man of the law should be
elected. He did this in accordance with an Act passed in the 46th year
of Edward III. It did not absolutely exclude lawyers from parliament, as

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 487

of course, represented : if they were excluded from the CHAR
lower House, the Lords Spiritual, as one of the three estates v-XTn
of the realm, must needs be present in the House of ArSei.
Lords. The chancellor was Henry Beaufort, afterwards ^7-
the cardinal of that name. He reminded the parliament
that the country was threatened by the Scotch, the Welsh,
the French, and the Flemings. He stated that the ex
chequer was exhausted ; that the king's revenues were
insufficient to furnish the necessary defences ; and that a
subsidy was in consequence absolutely necessary, although
it was well known that the king was unwilling to impose
a tax upon his people. This was met in the commons
by a petition to the king, in which it was stated that the
greater part of the property of the kingdom had been
engrossed by the clergy, who were living in idleness, and
did little for the public good. It was suggested that a
confiscation of all the revenues of the Church, and the
application of them to national purposes, would be a
measure highly expedient.

in the upper House many members of the council were lawyers, and most
of the bishops. Such were Arundel and Beaufort. But lawyers were
excluded from the House of Commons. Hence the lawyers have called
this the Parliamen turn indoctum, or the Lack-learning Parliament. In
the reign of George III. the clergy were excluded from the House of
Commons. The exclusion of any profession from a house to which all
Jews, infidels, and heretics (if not Turks) may be admitted is manifestly
absurd and inconsistent. Why a clergyman, if elected by the people,
should not be permitted to take his seat it is hard to say. The Church
would prevent his doing so while holding preferment, since residence
would be required ; and it is not probable that anyone would be
elected but an unbeneficed clergyman — a man who has come into an
estate. But these are questions for the electors and the Church, not
the house, to decide. If one profession, as such, is excluded, there is
no reason to be assigned against the exclusion of another ; and the fact
that the most learned lawyer is unable to rise to the higher posts in
his profession, until he has served as a minister in parliament, might be
urged as a reason for the exclusion of lawyers, though, of course, a
reason as insufficient as that which excludes the clerical profession.

488 LIVES OP THE

CHAP. Arundel was ready with his reply. The clergy had
r—- always contributed more to the public service than the
; for when the latter gave only a fifteenth, the clergy

granted the crown a tenth. In the wars,
they did not indeed, attend the king in person, but they
sent their tenants to serve, while they also assisted him
with their prayers. An altercation ensued between tlie
archbishop and Sir John Cheney, who declared himself
an infidel as to the efficacy of prayer, and maintained
that the lands of the clergy would be far more beneficial
to the public than their prayers. The archbishop pro
tested against such profaneness ; and, turning to Cheney,
he said, "As for you, sir, who think proper to speak
with scorn of the functions of the clergy, I promise you,
that you will find an invasion of the rights and possessions
of the Church no very easy matter." Then rising with
dignity he approached the king, and, as the custom was,
bent his knee before him, entreating him to remember
his coronation oath, and to extend his protection to the
clergy. The king, aware that this was only a party move.
replied at once that, so far from countenancing these
newfangled notions, his ambition was to leave his Church
in a better condition than that in which he had found it.
The archbishop was able to retort upon those who had
attacked the Church, by alluding to a recent and disgraceful
transaction. In the parliament of 1402, it had been enacted
that all alien priories should be suppressed. The Privy
Council had carried the measure into effect, by receiving
evidence of the foundation of religious houses. The
archbishop accused his opponents (and by the accusation
he silenced the present anti-church faction) of having
diverted the revenues of the friars-alien from the public
purse to their own. Instead of permitting the forfeited
lands to replenish the revenues of the crown, the persons
foremost in promoting that measure had begged the estates

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 489

for themselves ; " and so," he said, " if the king were now CHAP.
to comply with your project, he would not, in a year's . XVIIL^
time, be a farthing richer than he is now."* ?hoTfl

Arundel.

Another attack was made in parliament, upon the 1397-
revenues of the Church, in 1410. Sir John Oldcastle
(Lord Cobham), a violent and influential leader of the
Lollards, introduced a bill in this form : —

" To the most noble excellent Lord the King and all the nobles
in this present parliament assembled, your faithful Commons do
humbly show that our Sovereign Lord the King may have the
temporal possessions and lands which by the bishops, abbots,
and priors are spent and wasted in the realm, which would suf
fice to find the king with 15 earls, 1,500 knights, 6,200 esquires,
and 100 almshouses, for the relief of poor people, more than
there were then in England. That every earl should have, of
yearly rent, 3,000 marks ; every knight 100 marks and 4 plough-
lands ; every esquire 40 marks and 2 ploughlands ; and every
almshouse 100 marks, and be overlooked by two secular priests
to each house. And, over and above all these, the king might
put yearly into his own coffers 20,000 pounds. Provided also,
that every township should maintain their own poor, that could
not labour ; on condition, that if any was overburdened with
them, then the said townships to be relieved by the almshouses
aforesaid. And for to bear the charges of all these things," the
commons affirmed, in their bill, that the temporalities then in
the possession of spiritual men amounted to 322,000 marks
yearly rent. The commons also alleged, " That over and above ,
the said sum of 322,000 marks, several houses of religion
in England possessed as many temporalities as might suffice to
find 15,000 priests, every priest to be allowed, for his stipend,
seven marks a year ." f

The archbishop availed himself of these manifestations
of a hostile spirit towards the clergy for the purpose of

* Minutes of Privy Council, 190, 199; Walsingham, ii. 265;
Daniel, in Kennett, 290 ; Rapin, 495, 496 ; Stow, 330 ; Speed, 619.
f Walsingham, ii. 282 : Titus Livius, Parl. Hist. ii. 113.

490 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, making that body amenable to the purposes of the kiiur.
-* . I* He frequently produced messages from the king, assuring
Arundei. tn^ clergy, who were beginning to feel alarmed at the
ui4~ revolutionary proceedings of the Lollards, of the royal
determination to protect them in the maintenance of their
own ; and, both in gratitude and as a retaining-fee, they
were liberal in their pecuniary aid. In the very first
year of his reign, the king, prompted by the archbishop,
had sent the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland
to announce to the clergy the king's determination to
maintain them in all their privileges and immunities.
The earls were, moreover, commissioned to assure the
convocation, that the king was ready to concur with then
in any measures they might think proper to adopt for the
extirpation of heresy and the restraint of obstinate here
tics. The message was considered the more necessary, as
the king's father, John of Gaunt, was known to have been
at one period, the patron of Wiclif. The reference to the
obstinacy of heretics is important. The general impression
was, that when once it was found that a man's opinior
differed from what had been ruled by the Church, it wat
nothing but a perverse obstinacy that prevented him
from abjuring his heresy, and from seeking reconciliation
with the Church he had ventured to insult.

The same government, however, which was prepared to
* support the clergy of the Church of England against the
attacks of the Lollards, was equally resolute in resisting
Roman aggression ; and was thus prepared to protect
them from the pope. At this very time, an Act against
papal provisions was passed, and it was enacted, that
" no provisions should be brought from Koine by any
religious person to exempt them from obedience to the
secular power ; that all such persons as shall bring such
provisions into the nation shall incur the penalties of a
proemunire ; that no person shall carry any gold or silver

1397-
1414.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 491

coin out of the nation without a special licence from the CHAP.
king; and that if anyone shall presume to do to the ^J^Ei
contrary, he shall forfeit all the said coin to the king." * IS

In the sixth year of Henry's reign, a more stringent
Act on the same subject was passed. The preamble com
mences with a reference to the " horrible mischiefs and
damnable custom introduced of new in the Court of
Borne, that no parson, abbot, or other, shall have pro
vision of any archbishopric or bishopric which shall be
void till that he has compounded with the papal chamber
to pay great or excessive sums of money, as well for the
firstfruits of the said archbishopric or bishopric as for
other lesser services in the same court." It was then
enacted, that all who should pay to the said chamber, or
otherwise, for such firstfruits or services more than the
customary fee, shall forfeit as much to the crown as
these compositions at Home shall exceed the customary
value, f

This was a great relief to those of the clergy who ex
pected high preferment in the Church. To understand
the grievance, we must bear in mind the manner in which
the higher preferments of the Church were at this time
conferred. The king assumed the right, as founder of the
several dioceses, to nominate a bishop when a see was
vacant ; the chapter contended for the right of election ;
the pope asserted the right to appoint by provision, which
was at this time only another word to signify nomination.
These were li ttle more than forms. The real power in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a.s in the nineteenth, was
vested in the crown ; but it was effected in this wise.
The king issued a conge d'elire, as now, to the chapter,
naming the clerk to be elected : if his nominee was
elected, as was almost sure to be the case, he was satisfied.

* See Statutes at large, 2 Henry IV.

f See Statutes at large, G Henry IV., cap. I.

492 LIVES OP THE

CHAP. The chapter obeyed the king, but welcomed the bishop as
- y I* their own choice. When the chapter had elected, the king
Arundei. notified the fact to the pope, and he immediately norni-
1397- nated the royal nominee, issued bulls, and maintained that,
in spite of English statutes, the new bishop was appointed
by papal provision. The king could afford his permission
to both chapter and pope to theorise as they might think
fit, so long as they permitted the real power to rest with
him. But as metropolitans might refuse to consecrate
without receiving a bull, it was judged expedient ;o
obtain such, although the person to whom it was
granted was obliged before consecration, to make oatli
that he renounced everything contained therein, which
was prejudicial to the rights of the crown. The
exorbitant demand which, in spite of the secular
power, as well as to replenish the papal treasures, was
demanded for these bulls was the grievance ; and this
grievance the present Act was designed to mitigate, if
not to remove.

It was not merely in defending the Church from tin1,
attacks of the Lollards at home, or in resisting th

aggressions of the papal authorities from without, that the
archbishop was employed. Another class of dissenters at
this time appeared in England to confound the confusion.
already great. The Bianchi and Albini appeared in this
country, and evidently obtained a following and some
success : for Italian contemporary writers represent this as
a sect originating in England.* They appeared to have
resembled the poor preachers among the Lollards in that
they were diligent preachers : in all other respects they
differed. They went from town to town in procession,
following a large crucifix and chanting hymns as they
walked. They were arrayed in white, and wore long

* See Spondanus, i. G71.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 493

veils that they might not be known. Against them a CHAP.
proclamation was issued.* */ , IL

Oxford was a place where freedom of thought was Aru
encouraged and independence of action maintained. In l^~
these troublous times, to Oxford the attention of the arch
bishop was called. There was a. party in the university
which had already drawn a distinction between Wiclif,
the learned schoolman, and the Lollards, who, while pro
fessing to hold his religious tenets, were becoming a mere
revolutionary faction in the state. There was a large
party, indeed, in both universities, who were willing to
remain loyal subjects to the crown, and, like Wiclif himself,
to conform to the Church ; but who asserted the orthodoxy
of the great doctor, and who, with certain explanations,
accepted — though they did not think it expedient at that
time to propagate — his peculiar doctrines. It never seems
to have occurred to Arundel's mind, that opposition could
be met by anything short of physical force or direct
legislation. He was himself no scholar — he was only a
Bachelor of Arts :f and he was spoken of at Oxford in
terms similar to those which would be employed in the
present day if (as we know to have been lately contem
plated) a clerk were nominated to an episcopal see who
had never graduated at either of the universities.

In the July of 1408, the archbishop summoned a pro
vincial council to meet at Oxford. Here certain consti
tutions against the Lollards were drawn up. These, how
ever, the archbishop was afraid to promulgate at that
time and place. Their publication, therefore, was delayed
until another convocation was held at St. Paul's Cathe
dral, in London, in the following January.} By these

* Rot. Parl. iii. 124. s

f So says Wood ; but Gower, as quoted at page 444, makes him,
probably by mistake, D.C.L.

J Lyndwood, 288 ; Spelman, ii. 662 ; Lyndwood App. 64 ; Wilkins,

494 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, constitutions the clergy are warned, under penalty of
-iL,—!- being regarded as abettors of heresy, against permitting
Arandei. unlicensed persons to preach in their churches, church-
1397- yards, or anywhere else.* Schoolmasters are prohibited
from instructing their pupils in the sacraments or other
theological points contrary to the determination of the
Church, and are cautioned not to permit their scholars
to dispute publicly or privately upon such subjects : and
it is forbidden any person to read Wiclif s translation of
Scripture, or any other book, composed by John Wiciif
or any other in his time or since, in any schools, halls,
inns, or other places whatsoever within the province of
Canterbury, unless it has first been examined and unani
mously approved by the Universities of Oxford and Cam
bridge.

A strong party in Oxford resisted these measures, directe 1
as they were so pointedly, against all the maintaineis
of Wiclif s doctrines. The two parties — the supporters cf
Wiclif on the one side, and his opponents on the other —
were pretty equally balanced. On this account, and from
the pressure of other business, the archbishop postponed
the visitation of the University of Oxford until 1411. Ho
then issued his citation, in which he warns the chancellor,
doctors, masters, and scholars, and all others belonging to

iii. 314. Wilkins gives the following note : — " Eli. ad A. C. 1407 Con
cilium hoc remittit Constitutiones ha3 in provinciali concilio Oxonii
habito editas et deinde repetita promulgations in concilio hoc Londi-
nensi sancitoc fuerunt."

* According to Lyndwood, Provinciale, 289, the pope was allowed to
preach everywhere ; the bishop everywhere in his own diocese, or in
any other place if not prohibited by the diocesan. A master or Doctor
in Divinity, or any preacher licensed to any parish or parishes, might
be permitted to preach by any curate in transitu. Dominicans and
Franciscans (friars, preachers, and minorites) might preach anywhere
of common right. These preachers were now restrained, as it was difficult
to distinguish them from the Lollards.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 495

the university, to appear at his coming, and to make CHAP.
answer to the things that should be laid before them. - XVII
Arundel departed from London in great state, with " a fair ^dei
retinue," comprising many persons of honour ; and among 1397~
thein his nephew, Thomas Earl of Arundel. He ap
proached the city of Oxford. The authorities, headed by
the chancellor and the two proctors, Benedict Brent and
John Byrch, were seen coming forth to meet him. The
archbishop received them, and was informed that, if he
was coming to Oxford as a stranger, he would be welcomed
as a guest so distinguished ought to be. They added,
however, that they would not permit him to enter the
university as a visitor, in the official sense of the word.
The university, they declared, was by law exempt from
the visitation of archbishops and bishops, their officers or
ordinaries. The heads of the university were accompanied
by a mob of undergraduates, armed with swords and bows
and arrows. These undergraduates showed as little respect
for authority in the fifteenth century as in the nineteenth.
Their acclamations were, however, at that time, resented
by Arundel as an insult, instead of being regarded as the
exuberance of juvenile feeling.

It is strange that the chancellor of the university had
not signified the determination to decline the visitorial
jurisdiction of the primate before the archbishop had
encountered the expense and fatigue of his journey. But,
whether the manner of meeting him was a studied insult
or a mere afterthought, we are not surprised at finding
feelings of indignation excited in the archbishop's mind
by being unexpectedly exposed to ridicule, especially
among the youth of the country. The power vof the
Church was no longer what it had been, and the Arch
bishop of Canterbury appealed to the king for protection.
The king, of course, espoused the cause of Arundel. What
were the precise measures of redress which the king,

496 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, at ArundeFs suggestion, was advised to take, the records
-X^n-- °f tne university do not affirm. It only appears that
Imndll neither the king nor the primate was prepared to attach
1397~ much weight to the bull of exemption obtained by the
university from the pope in the reign of Eichard II. On
the other hand, the university \vas determined to resist
what was regarded as an invasion of its liberties, privileges,
and customs. The masters suspended their lectures, and
the scholars, in consequence, were dispersed. The con
troversy waxed hot, but was at length settled by a com
promise, effected through the mediation of the Prince of
Wales. " Prince Hal " was himself a member of the uri-
versity ; and to his arbitration the younger members as
well as those at the head of affairs would be ready 10
submit. That the arbitration was a just one is evident
from the fact, that it gave satisfaction to neither party. Tl e
proctors had been imprisoned in the Tower ; the arch
bishop was required to have compassion on them, anl
to sanction their release. At the same time the under
graduates, who had resisted the archbishop with swords
and bows and arrows, "were to be corrected with rod
and ferula." The bull of Boniface IX., which was
pleaded to exempt the university from archiepiscopal and
episcopal visitation, was adjudged prejudicial to the
crown, and was therefore null and void. The king was
declared to be the visitor, but the right of the archbishop
was admitted to hold a visitation, "Quoad inquisitioneir.
super hseretica pravitate."*

The archbishop had already appointed twelve persons
in the university to examine the writings of Wiclif, and to
condemn any heretical conclusions that might be found
therein.f These persons now resumed their labours, and

* These statements are made on the authority of Wood's Annals, i.
547, et seq., where the authorities are cited,
f Wilkins, iii. 322.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 497

declared not only that many members of the university CHAP.
were preachers of sedition in England, but also that . XVIL
"certain forged letters, being testimonials in defence of JruS
dissensions, heresies, and errors, were sent by these men 13J9~
to foreign parts, privily sealed with the common seal of
the university, without previous consultation with the
masters and doctors, to the great scandal of the whole
kingdom of England, and especially of our Mother
Church."*

The object of Arundel at this time, was twofold. He
wished to show the nullity of the distinction made
at Oxford between the teaching of the great doctor,
John Wiclif, and the revolutionary principles of his
successors, the Lollards. He desired also to commit the
Court of Borne to some action, which would alienate the
pope from the university, at a time when the university
was willing to set up the pope against the primate-
according to the prevalent inclination to submit to a
distant and therefore a weaker authority, in order to
defy the discipline of an immediate and therefore
more scrutinising ordinary. Arundel accordingly caused
267 heresies and errors to be extracted from the
writings of Wiclif. f These he sent to the pope, with
a request that he would solemnly condemn them as
heretical. With this request the pope easily complied.
But Arundel was aware that Wiclif might still be regarded
as a saint, and he also therefore requested that Wiclif 's
body might be exhumed and, being deported from con
secrated ground, be buried on a dunghill. There was
nothing in the spirit of the age which revolted from such
a proceeding. Such things had been done, and there was

* Wilkins, iii. 33G. Among these forged documents was the testi
monial of the university to the merits of John Wiclif, which was read
by John Huss at Constance.

f Ibid. iii. 339.
VOL. IV. K K

498 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, no reason why they should not be repeated. But the

-^L^ pope was advised that, however opposed in general to

jtaridL papal rescripts, the university was now engaged in a con-

^414" troversy to maintain the authority of a papal exemption ;

and, on the ground of not being willing to add fresh fuel

to fire already too hot, the proposal of the archbishop

was rejected or deferred.

We have hitherto seen Artindel under various phases.
He was a man devoted to the interests of his family — an
affectionate brother, and a judicious uncle and guardian.
As a prelate he was munificent ; as a statesman he evinced
considerable abilities, though without much principle.
He was unscrupulous as to the means by which his encs
were to be accomplished, and was never at a loss to decide
whether a feeling of revenge or of patriotism instigate!
him, when in resisting oppression he became a chief actor
in the late revolution. We have now to contemplate him
in the character of a judge. He was unbending and stern
in the administration of the law : but while we condemn
the law, we are hardly justified in applying to its adminis
trator those harsh terms, which are dictated by the cruel
and intolerant temper which animated such men a.>
Bale, Fox, Prynne, and, alas ! too many of their modern
imitators and advocates.

On the election of Henry IV. to the throne of England
the state of the country, in the opinion of those whc
retained any portion of the old conservative feeling, was
most perilous. There were three great parties : the
revolutionary party, with Henry IV. at its head ; the
faithful few who adhered to Eicharel II., and regarded as
a profane act the deposition of an anointed king ; and
the supporters of Edwarel Mortimer Earl of March, who
had some idea of hereditary succession in the modern
sense of the term — an idea which became stereotyped
under Edward IV. The revolutionary party, being sue-

1399-
1414.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 499

cessful, was the strongest, but the other two were always CHAP.
prepared to seize an opportunity, if any opportunity were ~?^I_
offered, to overthrow a government not yet securely
established. The government felt therefore the difficulty,
as we have before observed, of raising money, as hereto
fore, by taxation. The right of the parliament under
such circumstances to tax might be questioned by either
of the two parties in opposition, and payment could
only be obtained by a coercion, which might render un
popular a king whose existence depended upon his
popularity.

In the midst of this divided population, the Lollards
were pervading the country, preaching revolution in
Church and State. . They began with the extremest puri-
tanism, and ended in preaching doctrines such as have
seldom been heard, except during the great revolution in
France. How were they to be dealt with — as heretics or
rebels ? The difficulty was met by treating them some
times as the one and sometimes as the other.

In the year 1400, a rebellion, under three great earls
and Lord Despencer, had been witli difficulty crushed.
In the Minutes of the Privy Council it is stated, that
the traitorous attempt of these lords had rendered the
common people insolent (fiers), and that the justices
were prevented from finding a remedy for the offences
committed by lawless gangs of people, in conse
quence of the turbulence and audacity (destourbance
et fiertee) of the populace, resolute to resist unarmed
authority.*

It was under these circumstances that the Statute Book
of England was disgraced by a statute which is justly
denounced in terms of detestation — the statute " De
Efceretico comburendo."

* Minutes of Privy Council, xxxiii.

K K 2

500 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. The condition of the country was such, that an entire
J T '.- disruption of all society, immediately after the revolution,
Arumiei. was to be feared, unless strong measures were adopted.

Party most lawless, and most to be feared, was that
of the Lollards. They were powerful, because they made
religion, in an age when the corruptions of the Church
had become almost intolerable, the basis of their opera
tions. Ah1 men admitted that they were heretics. "If
they were heretics," it was demanded of the ecclesiastical
authorities, " why do you not punish them ? " The an
swer was, " We can only excommunicate them, and for
our excommunication they do not care. We have no
power to punish them in any other way."

Nothing can be clearer than that up to this time, heresy
was regarded in England as an exclusively spiritual
offence, exposing the offender to spiritual censures ; bi.t
not punishable by forfeiture of lands or goods, much le^s
by the infliction of death.*

Under these circumstances the House of Commons, at
the commencement of Henry IV. 's reign, petitioned for \
law which might effectually restrain unlicensed preachen ,
and sanction the seizure and detention of persons propaga
ting the new doctrines. The object was to strengthen th-3
hands of the ecclesiastical judges; and a statute for thh
purpose was enacted. Instead of proceeding, as now, by
bill, the form then was for the House of Commons to make,
a petition, to which the king, advised by the House 0'
Lords, gave his assent, — the petition so granted becoming
a statute of the realm. It was thus that the statute "De
Haerctico comburendo " is represented as the conjoint act
of the prcelati et clerus ac etiain communitates dicti reym
in eodem parliament*} ', receiving the royal assent. f

* Blackstone, edit. Stephens, iii. 50 ; Hale, P. C., i. 392 ; Hawk,
B. i. c. 1, § 10.

f Rot, Parl. iii. 459, 460.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 501

It is said by some that the clergy were the sole offend- CHAP.
ing parties on this occasion. It may be so : but in writing - X^IL_
history, we are obliged not to draw from the imagination Armuiei.
but to state facts as they are recorded, and, according to the 1399~
record, the offence committed by this act was a national
offence, — the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, the Commons
in Parliament assembled, and the King, all giving their
consent.

The statute, so long a curse and a disgrace to the
country, having mentioned the rising of a new sect of
heretical preachers, who promote their heresies by form
ing unlawful conventicles and confederacies, exciting and
stirring up the people to sedition and insurrection, enacts
that no one shall preach without a licence, or preach,
hold, teach, or instruct the people, openly or privily,
contrary to the determination of Holy Church, and that
all heretical books shall be given up to the bishop of the
diocese. Offenders against the Act are to be arrested by
the diocesan, and proceeded against according to the
canons. Being convicted, they were to be detained in
prison, and fined at the discretion of the diocesan. Any
person refusing to abjure was to be left to the secular
court. He was to be delated before the mayor, sheriff, or
bailiff of the city, town, or borough ; and the fact of his
condemnation for heresy having been proved, he was
then, in a high place, before the people, to be burnt, for
the terror of others.*

Such was the execrable law. Arundel was not in ad
vance of his age, and felt no greater repugnance against
the law itself, than did our commercial ancestors when
they enacted that a man should die for forgery — an awful
law, under which, within our own memory, hundreds of
lives were lost. It was the calamity rather than the

* Gibson's Codex, 400.

502 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, crime of Arundel, that he was the first judge called

JE^El~. upon to carry this law into effect.

Arunde8!. William (or, as the style then was, Sir William) Sawtree,
1134919~ or Sautre,* was a chantry priest or, as we should now
say, a curate of St. Bennet Sheerhog,f or St. Osyth, con
tracted into St. Scyth, in London. Why he should have
been selected as the first person to be prosecuted under
the Act "De Hasretico comburendo" it is difficult to con
jecture. Perhaps it was determined to make an example ;
and, to prevent any great excitement of popular feeling,
it was thought expedient to commence proceedings with
an insignificant person. Sawtree — who, before his coming
to London, had officiated at St. Margaret's, in Lynn — had
been arraigned and convicted of heresy in the diocese of
Norwich. He had asserted that he would worship no ;
the cross, but only Christ who suffered on the cross ; tha;
he would rather worship a man predestinated to life thar.
an angel of God ; that it were better to distribute the
expenses of a journey to Eome or to Canterbury, in dole<
to the poor than to make a journey to either place ; and
that every priest and deacon is more bound to preach
than to observe the canonical hours, or to perform divine
service. He likewise denied the doctrine of transubstan-
tiatlon. For these opinions he had been tried ; and, not

* Newcourt, Repertorium, i. 305.

f The church of St. Bennet Sheerhog was situated on the north side
of St. Pancras Lane, and was formerly called St. Sithe's Church. The
prior of St. Mary Overies was the patron, and on the dissolution of the
monasteries the patronage came to the Crown. It was destroyed at the
Great Fire, and not rebuilt. The parish was attached to that of St.
Stephen, Walbrook. The site of the old church was used as a cemetery.
Sawtree could not have been the rector, as is sometimes supposed. He
was executed in 1400, and John Newton was parish-priest or parson
from 1396 to 1427. The prefix of " Sir" to his name indicated that
he was not a university man, but was ordained, as we should now say,
a literate. See Stow's London, R. iii. B. 50 ; and Newcourt, i. 303.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 503

being gifted with great physical courage, he recanted, C**AP.
and was received back into- the bosom of the Church. ^ — -

. Thomas

He withdrew his recantation at the commencement of AmndcL
Henry's reign, and, putting himself prominently forward, iJJf
he petitioned parliament for permission to dispute before
them on points of doctrine. Parliament referred the
matter to convocation.

On the 12th of February, he was brought before con
vocation — not, however, as a disputant, but as a criminal.
His courage again failed him : he prevaricated, and, as
the manner in such cases is, he explained away the mean
ing of his words. Finding that this did not give satisfac
tion, the poor man denied that he ever abjured the
opinions he now held. This was a vital point. If he
were a relapsed heretic, his sentence of condemnation
would follow as a matter of course. If this were a first
offence, he might abjure ; and on his recantation be dis
missed with a warning and admonition. Norwich was
far off ; travelling was not easy ; and means of communi
cation with Norfolk were difficult. He determined, there
fore, to risk a falsehood. The question was whether he
was a heretic simply, or a relapsed heretic. He denied
that he had ever been tried before on the charge of heresy.
He probably hoped, that his friends would contrive some
means for his escape. He was kept in safe custody, and
in a few days was brought again before the convoca
tion. The instrument of his recantation was produced,
duly attested, from the register of the Bishop of Norwich.
The poor Lollard was condemned as a relapsed heretic.

With the verdict — unanimously returned by the bishops,
priors, deans, archdeacons, doctors, clerks, and others — the
archbishop, as judge, expressed his concurrence. The
sentence was pronounced on the Wednesday ; and the con
vocation then adjourned till Friday, when the archbishop
was prevented, by parliamentary business, from attending.

504 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. On Saturday, the 26th of February, Arundel took his
— r— ^- seat with great state in St. Paul's. His assessors were
A^miei. the Bishops of London, Lincoln, Hereford, Exeter, ar..d
\4n" ^' Davids. They were arrayed in their pontifical vest
ments. William Sawtree, robed as a priest, was brought
before them. The cathedral was filled with a multitude,
eager to watch the proceedings. The archbishop addressed
them in an English speech : he is said to have declared
and expounded to the whole congregation, both clergy
and people, the process against Sawtree. He read ths
sentence on the relapsed heretic, and then proceeded to
the degradation and actual deposition of the heretical
priest, in the following terms : —

In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen ! We
Thomas, by God's permission Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate
of All England, and Legate of the Apostolic See, do thee William
Sautre, otherwise called Chatris, chaplain pretensed, clothed in
the habit and apparel of a priest, a heretic and one relapsed into
heresy, by our sentence definitive condemned, by the counsel, as
sent, and authority, and by the conclusion of all our fellow-breth
ren, our co-bishops and prelates, and of the whole clergy of our
provincial council, degrade and depose from the order of a priest :
and in sign of thy degradation and actual deposition, for thine
incorrigibility, we take from thee the paten and chalice, and do
deprive thee of all power of celebrating the mass; and also we
pull from thy back the chasuble, and take from thee the priestly
vestment, and deprive thee of all manner of priestly honour.

Item. We Thomas, the aforesaid archbishop, by the same
authority, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid
William, deacon pretensed, clothed in the habit and apparel of
a deacon, having the book of the Gospels in thy hands, a heretic
and one relapsed into heresy, condemned by sentence as is
aforesaid, degrade and depose from the order of a deacon : and
in sign of this thy degradation and actual deposition, we take
from thee the book of the Gospels, and the stole, and do deprive
thee of the power of reading the Gospel and of all, and all
manner of diaconal honour.

AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 505

Item. We Thomas, archbishop aforesaid, by the sameautho- CHAP,
rity, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid William, , XVIIi.
subdeacon pretensed, clothed in the habit and vestment of a Thomas
subdeacon, a heretic and one relapsed, condemned by sentence 1399.! '
as is aforesaid, degrade and depose from the order of a sub- U14-
deacon : and in sign of this thy degradation and actual deposition,
we take from thee the albe and maniple, and do deprive thee of
all, and all manner of subdiaconal honour.

Item. We Thomas, archbishop aforesaid, by the same autho
rity, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid William,
acolyte pretensed, clothed in the habit of an acolyte, heretic
and relapsed, by our sentence as is aforesaid condemned, degrade
and depose from the order of an acolyte : and in sign of thy
degradation and actual deposition, we take from thee the candle
stick and taper, and the urceolum, and do deprive thee of all,
and all manner of honour of an acolyte.

Item. We Thomas, archbishop aforesaid, by the same autho
rity, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid William,
exorcist (or holy-water clerk) pretensed, clothed in the habit
of an exorcist, being a heretic and relapsed, and by our sentence
as is aforesaid condemned, degrade and depose from the order
of an exorcist : and in sign of this thy degradation and actual
deposition, we take from thee the book of Exorcisms, and do
deprive thee of all, and all manner of honour of an exorcist.

Item. We Thomas, archbishop aforesaid, by the same autho
rity, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid William,
reader pretensed, clothed in the habit of a reader, a heretic and
relapsed, and by our sentence as is aforesaid condemned, degrade
and depose from the order of a reader: and in sign of this thy
degradation and actual deposition, we take from thee the book
of the Divine Lections (that is, the book of the Church Legend)
and do deprive thee of all, and all manner of honour of a
reader.

Item. We Thomas, archbishop aforesaid, by the same autho
rity, counsel, and assent as before, do thee the aforesaid William
Sautre, sexton pretensed, clothed in the habit of a sexton, and
wearing a surplice, being a heretic and relapsed, by our sentence
definitive condemned as aforesaid, degrade and depose from the
order of a sexton : and in sign of this thy degradation and actual

506 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, deposition, for the causes aforesaid, do take from thee the keys
._x\ni^ of the church, and the surplice, and do deprive thee of all
Thomas honour and commodity of an ostiarius.

1397_ ' Moreover, by the authority of Almighty Grod, the Father,
14U- the Son, and the Holy Grhost, and our own, and by the autho
rity, counsel, and assent of our whole council provincial above
written, we do degrade and depose thee William Sautre, alias
Chatris, from the orders, benefices, and privileges, and the
habit and fellowship of the Church, for thy pertinacy incor
rigible, before the secular court of the high constable and
marshal of England, being here personally present before us ;
and do strip and deprive thee of a^l and singular clerkly
honours and distinctions whatsoever by these writings. Also, ii
sign of thy actual degradation and deposition, we have caused
thy crown and clerical tonsure in our presence to be rased
away and utterly to be abolished like unto the form of ;i
secular layman, beseeching the court aforesaid that they will
regard favourably the said William unto them thus recom
mitted.

The unfortunate Sawtree — whose weakness must excite
our pity, though we should prefer to have regardec
him as a martyr to his opinions — was now delivered ovei
to the constable and marshal, to await the king's pleasure.
The king, by the advice of the lords spiritual and tem
poral, commanded that he should be publicly burnt in
abhorrence of his crimes, and as an example to all Chris
tians.* As this is the first prosecution under the Act, the
reader is presented with the royal mandate : —

The decree of our sovereign lord the king and his council in
the parliament, against a certain newly-sprung-up heretic.

To the mayor and sheriffs of London, &c. Whereas the
venerable father Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of
all England, and legate of the apostolic see, by the consent,
assent, and counsel of his co-bishops and fellow-brethren his
suffragans, and of the whole clergy of his province in his

* Rot. Parl. iii. 459. Foedera, viii. 178.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 507

provincial council assembled, the due order of law in this CHAP,
behalf required being observed in all points, hath pronounced XVII^
by his definitive sentence one William Sautre, some time chap- Thomas
lain, condemned of heresy, and formerly abjured by him in 1399.! '
form of law but now relapsed into the heresy aforesaid, to be a 14U-
manifest heretic, and therefore hath decreed that he should be
degraded, and hath for the same cause really degraded him
from all clerical prerogative and privilege, and hath decreed
the said William to be left to the secular court, and hath really
so left him, according to the laws and canonical sanctions set
forth in this behalf, and that holy mother church hath no
further to do in the premises: We therefore — as zealous of
religion and a lover of the Catholic faith, being desirous to
maintain and defend holy church and the rights and liberties
of the same, and as far as in us lieth to pluck up by the roots
such heresies and errors of our realm of England, and with
condign correction to punish all heretics or such as be convict,
seeing that such heretics convict and condemned in form afore
said ought, both according to divine and human law, and the
canonical institutions in this behalf accustomed, to be burned
with fire — do command you as strictly as we can, firmly
enjoining you that you cause the aforesaid William, being in
your custody, in some public and open place within the liberties
of the city aforesaid (the cause aforesaid being published unto
the people), to be committed to the fire, and him in the same
fire really to be burned, for detestation of his crime and the
manifest example of other Christians : and hereof ye are not to
fail upon the peril that will fall thereupon. — Teste Rege, apud
Westm. 26th Feb. an. regni sui 2do. [A.D. 1401.]

The horrible sentence was duly carried into effect.

Of this sanguinary law against heresy the second victim
was John Badby, a tailor of Evesham, in the county of
Worcester. By his firmness and determination this
man did honour to his cause. He denied the doctrine
of transubstantiation ; and was, in the year 1409, pro
nounced heretical in the diocesan court of Worcester.
Under what circumstances the case was brought from the

508 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, diocesan to the provincial court is not apparent ; but the

— -— ^ conduct of the archbishop, when the case came before him

Arundei. in March 1410, was judicious, and such as clearly showed

Hit" his deep sense of the awful responsibility attached to Lis

office as an ecclesiastical judge. Besides the Archbishop of

York and the Bishops of London, Winchester, Chichester,

and Norwich, he summoned as his assessors the Duke of

York, the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord Beaumont, and

many others, to enumerate whom, as Arundei himself

says, would be tedious.* The archbishop addressed them

in the vulgar tongue, and explained the nature of the case.

The greatest pains were taken to induce the prisoner to

submit to the judgment of the Church. There was no

attempt, no inclination displayed to force the prisoner to

criminate himself. The whole object of the archbishop

was to give the reputed heretic the means of escaping the

penalty of the law by the only possible course which, ir.

the opinion of the court — whether the court was right 01

wrong — lay open to him.

We have had to dwell on the faults of Arundei : and
few readers will feel, perhaps, much sympathy with a man
who from a spirit of revenge, it is to be feared, rather
than of patriotism, abetted, if he did not organise, a revo
lution. But he was not a harsh-tempered man, and he
cared little for the niceties of theological controversy.
He was not a man who would have vituperated those who
differed from him, as is the manner of some theologians.
Let us try to understand his position.

That an uneducated tailor should set up his opinion in
opposition to the dogmas of the Church Universal was, in
those days, regarded as something so absurdly monstrous,
that men could only come to the conclusion that the here
tic must be either mad or possessed of the devil. Why

* Artindel Reg.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 509

a man possessed of the devil should be burnt to death CHAP.

it is not easy to understand ; but everyone, including » ,_

the Lollards, would in those days have concurred with Arundef.
Arundel in his opinion upon the subject : and if we judge j^~
of the Lollards from their language, we can hardly doubt
that they attributed moral depravity to those who differed
from them in opinion, and that, if they possessed the power,
they would have proceeded against Arundel precisely in
the same manner in which he proceeded against them.

Badby was a really great man. He was wrhat would
now be called a rationalist : he used, that is to say, ration
alistic arguments, as puritans have always done and still
do ; but he did not carry them out to their full extent.
The force of such argumentation is stronger on the un
educated mind than on the educated. He did not deny
the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. He professed to
worship one God in Three Persons ; but the doctrine of
the Holy Sacrament he treated as a rationalist. "If a
priest," he said, " can by his word make God, there will
be twenty thousand gods in England at one time. More
over, I cannot conceive how, when Christ at the last sup
per broke one piece of bread, and gave a portion to each
of His disciples, the piece of bread could remain whole
and entire as before, or that He then held His own body
in His hand." Men can ascertain the meaning of Scrip
ture, or succumb to the doctrines of the Church ; but
when they use such arguments as these, they are only
restrained from going further, by their prejudices. When
Badby appeared the last time before the court, and was
again questioned as to the nature of the elements in the
Eucharist, he said, that " in the sight of God, the Duke
of York," to whom he bowed, " or any child of Adam,
was of higher value than the Sacrament of the Altar."

There was evidently something peculiarly attractive in
this man's address and manner, which interested the

510 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, bystander. The archbishop said openly if the man would
_x / L* only live according to the doctrine of Christ, he would
Arundel8 pledge his soul for him at the day of judgment.
1]34919J- The archbishop was of course obliged to pronounce
him guilty of the heresy, of which the party accused made
a boast ; and the poor man was delivered over to the
secular arm. But it is expressly added by the registrar of
the proceedings, that Arundel prayed the noblemen who
were present to spare the poor man's life. This after
wards became a mere form ; but the fact is here recorded
as the spontaneous request of the archbishop. We have
elsewhere mentioned how the Prince of Wales interfered
in vain to prevail upon the reputed heretic to recart.
But Badby died a moral hero : if any man was ever a
martyr for his opinions he was one.

Another trial at which the archbishop was called 1o
preside was that of Sir John Oldcastle (Lord Cobham). Sir
John Oldcastle was a distinguished soldier, and had been
held in high esteem in the reign of Eichard II. He was of
the party of the Duke of Gloucester, in that reign, and was
one of the commissioners appointed on the permanert
Council, in 1386. In 1396, he was adjudged to death by
the packed parliament of Eichard, but his sentence was
commuted for banishment. He then attached himself to
the revolutionary party, and returned to England with
Henry of Lancaster, when he was restored to his forfeited
possessions. In 1409 he became the fourth husband of
Joan, the widow of Sir Nicolas Hauberk, a lady who
represented the noble family of the Cobhams of Kent. He
was summoned to parliament by writ, as the representative;
of his wife, in October 1409 ; and although he was sum
moned without any other designation than " Johan
Oldcastle Chiv.," he was commonly called Lord Cobham.*

* See Sir H. Nicolas' Historic Peerage, 118.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 511

Sir John Olclcastle was actively engaged in the Welsh c^^'
wars, where he became intimately acquainted with the "^-'—

J Thomas

Prince of Wales. He was sent in 1410 to oppose Anmdei.

1 *3QQ

the Duke of Burgundy, and gained everywhere the 1414.
reputation of a valiant soldier and a skilful com
mander.* Whether the stories be true or not of the
mad freaks of " Prince Hal," and whether or not Cobham
was one of his wild companions, he showed symptoms of
piety at an early period of life ; and founded a charity
for the maintenance of three chaplains at Eochester,
where also he displayed his public spirit by building a
bridge. In process of time, he became acquainted with
the doctrines of Wiclif, and cordially embraced them. He
insisted on the duty of man's accepting the truths of
religion because he believed them ; and he rejected the
notion that doctrines were to be accepted simply because

//«.

ana
Hereford, where his territorial possessions, or those of his

* Capgrave, 300, says of him : " A strong man in battayle he was,
but a grete heretic, and a grete enemy of the Churche." The Lollards
" trusted much in his witte and power."

| " Idem Johannes fuit et est principalis receptor et fautor, protector
et defensor, Lollardorum." — Walsingham, 374.

510 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, bystander. The archbishop said openly if the man would
^Hl, only live according to the doctrine of Christ, he would

Arundei. pledge his soul for him at the day of judgment.

11349194~ The archbishop was of course obliged to pronounce
him guilty of the heresy, of which the party accused made
a boast ; and the poor man was delivered over to the
secular arm. But it is expressly added by the registrar of
the proceedings, that Arundei prayed the noblemen who
were present to spare the poor man's life. This after
wards became a mere form ; but the fact is here recorded
as the spontaneous request of the archbishop. We have
elsewhere mentioned how the Prince of Wales interfered
in vain to prevail upon the reputed heretic to recant.
But Badby died a moral hero : if any man was ever a
martyr for his opinions he was one.

Another trial at which the archbishop was called to

me LLUUIC icimiiy ui LIIC v/uuiutma ui J.VCHL. JJLC

was summoned to parliament by writ, as the representative
of his wife, in October 1409 ; and although he was sum
moned without any other designation than " Johani
Oldcastle Chiv.," he was commonly called Lord Cobham.*

* See Sir H. Nicolas' Historic Peerage, 118.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 511

Sir John Oldcastle was actively engaged in the Welsh c^^'
wars, where he became intimately acquainted with the "Tj^
Prince of Wales. He was sent in 1410 to oppose Anmdei.
the Duke of Burgundy, and gained everywhere the \lll~
reputation of a valiant soldier and a skilful com
mander.* Whether the stories be true or not of the
mad freaks of " Prince Hal," and whether or not Cobham
was one of his wild companions, he showed symptoms of
piety at an early period of life ; and founded a charity
for the maintenance of three chaplains at Rochester,
where also he displayed his public spirit by building a
bridge. In process of time, he became acquainted with
the doctrines of Wiclif, and cordially embraced them. He
insisted on the duty of man's accepting the truths of
religion because he believed them ; and he rejected the
notion that doctrines were to be accepted simply because
they were promulgated by the Church. Although at first
a loyal partisan of the House of Lancaster, he seems to
have become imbued with the socialist doctrines inherent
in Lollardism, and gradually to have sunk into political
and religious fanaticism.

But though an enthusiast in whatever he undertook, Sir
John Oldcastle was not deficient in that precaution and
management, which he knew to be necessary, when he
determined to gratify his ambition by placing himself at
the head of the Lollards.f He procured learned clerks
from Oxford, and paid them large stipends to propagate
his principles. He dispersed his emissaries and unlicensed
preachers through the dioceses of London, Eochester, and
Hereford, where his territorial possessions, or those of his

* Capgrave, 300, says of him : "A strong man in battayle he was,
but a grete heretic, and a grete enemy of the Churche." The Lollards
" trusted much in his witte and power."

•f " Idem Johannes fuit et est principalis receptor et fautor, protector
et defensor, Lollardorum." — Walsingham, 374.

512 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, wife, gave him weight and influence. He protected them

y.-XV Ls wherever they went by his armed retainers. He sought

Aru°miei. to alarm the king into the protection of Lollardism,

\34 94 an(l to intimidate the hierarchy by causing notices to be

affixed to the doors of the London churches, affirming that

the Lollards were 100,000 strong, and were ready to rise

against all who did not favour their sect.

The archbishop felt that it would be worse than useless —
it would be cowardly and cruel — to bring the law to bear
upon tradesmen and the inferior clergy, if offenders in
the higher ranks of life were permitted to escape with impu
nity. His course of proceeding shall be laid before tie
reader in the archbishop's own words. The document of
which a translation is here given is interesting, as contem
porary documents always are. It is headed thus : —
" Processus magnus Domini Thomas Cantuariensis contra
Johannem Oldcastle militem Dominum de Cobham, in qi o
patet ejus examinatio, incarceratio, et excomrnunicatio."''

Thomas, by divine permission Archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England, and legate of the apostolic see to 01 r
venerable brother the lord Eichard, by the grace of God bishop
of London, greeting and brotherly love in the Lord.

Lately in our presence, at the convocation of the prelates
and of the clergy of our province of Canterbury in your

* Fascic. Zizan, 433. Foxe speaks of Arundel as " a beast," " i
wolf," ** a bloody murderer," " a Caiaphas," — and applies to him certai i
other epithets in that tone and spirit which it is impossible to admire.
He is perhaps surpassed by Bale, Bishop of Ossory, whom Wood calls
" foul-mouthed Bale." There is no accounting for taste : and therefore
we should not notice this if it were not necessary to remark on tho
extreme dishonesty of Foxe, who does not hesitate to falsify this and
other documents in a manner which would lead us to suppose that he
was oblivious of the sentence — more severe than any uttered by Arunde"
— which the Scriptures denounce upon all who wilfully pervert the
truth. Foxe was at liberty to attribute the worst motives to his enemies,
and the best to his friends ; but he was not at liberty to change their
words, and make them say what they did not say.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 513

church of St. Paul, last celebrated when the treating with the CHAP.
said prelates of the union and reformation of the Church of ^ xvni
England, amongst other points concerning which it was con- Thomas
eluded by us and the said prelates and clergy, it was apparent 1397-
that it was impossible to repair the rent in Our Lord's seamless
garment unless previously certain magnates of the realm, the
authors, favourers, protectors, defenders, and receivers of those
heretics who are called Lollards were rigidly reproved, and if
need be by censures of the Church, together with the invoking
of the secular arm, recalled from their wanderings.

And subsequently, in the same convocation, on diligent
inquisition being made among the proctors of the clergy and
others who, from the several dioceses of our said province, were
there present in great number, it was found amongst them, and
detected and declared to us, that Sir John Oldcastell, knight,
had been and is the principal receiver, favourer, protector, and
defender of the same ; and that, especially in the dioceses of
London, Rochester, and Hereford, he has sent these Lollards to
preach, who are by no means licensed by the ordinaries or
diocesans of those places contrary to the provincial constitution
made thereon ; and has been present at their nefarious preach
ings, and restrained by threats and terrors, and by the power of
the secular sword, any opponents whom he found there asserting
and affirming, among other things, that we and our brethren
the suffragans of our province neither had nor have any power
of making any constitution of this kind. And he has thought
and thinks, dogmatises and teaches, otherwise concerning the
sacraments of the altar, and penance, pilgrimages, and adora
tion of images, as well as the keys from that which the Roman
and the Universal Church teaches and affirms.

Wherefore, on the part of the said prelates and clergy, we
were then requested that, concerning and upon the premises
against the said Sir John Oldcastell, we would deign to proceed.
Wherefore, on the part of the law put to the clergy, we were
then requested to condescend to proceed against the said Sir
John Oldcastell concerning and upon the premises.

We, however, on account of respect for our lord the king,
whose friend the said Sir John then was, as well as for the honour
of the order of knighthood, together with all our brethren and

VOL. IV. L L

514 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, suffragans of our said province being then present ; and a great
. XVI1L^ part of the clergy of our said province personally proceeded to

Thomas the presence of our said lord the king, who was then at his
1397_ ' manor of Kenyngton, and, making complaint against the said
14 u- Sir John, partly declared the said Sir John's falling away.

But at the request of our lord the king himself, who wished
to bring the said Sir John back to the unity of the Church
without dishonour, we put off all execution of the premises for
a long time.

But at length, as our lord the king had made no progress in
bringing him back, after great labour, as our lord the kin^
deigned to inform us, both verbally and in writing, we sut-
sequently determined on summoning the said Sir John to make
answer personally before us, concerning and upon the points
premised at a certain time now passed by; and we despatched
our messenger with our letters of citation to the said Sir Johr,
who was then at his castle of Cowlyng, charging our messenger
that he should by no means enter the castle of the said Sir
John unless he were permitted ; but by means of one John
Boteler, doorkeeper of the chamber of our said lord the king,
he should request the said Sir John either to give permission
to our said messenger to enter, that he might cite him, or ao
least give him an opportunity of so doing outside his castlo
aforesaid, that by the citation he might be apprehended.

Sir John, however, made answer publicly to the said Johr
Boteler, who explained to him the foregoing on the part of our
said lord the king, that in no way would he be cited, nor
submit to his citation in any form.

\Ve therefore, being certified of the premises, lawfully proceedec
further. First, having faithful report made to us that the saic
John could not be apprehended by personal citation, we decreed
to cite him by an edict publickly affixed to the doors of the
cathedral church of Rochester in his vicinity, little more than
three English miles distant from the said castle of Cowlyng.
As we thus caused him to be cited, and our edict aforesaid tc
be publickly and openly affixed to the doors of the said church,
that he should appear before us on the llth day of September
now past, to answer personally concerning and upon the pre
mises, and also certain other things concerning heretical pravity.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 515

Which day being come, we, sitting on the tribunal in our great CHAP,
chapel within the castle of Leedes of our diocese, which we then , xvn-
inhabited and where we then kept residence with our court, and Thomas
having taken an oath, which is requisite in the premises, and the z 1397-
information by us having been heard and received according to UH-
the assertion and as is commonly reported in the parts where
the said Sir John lives, as it is premised that the said Sir John
shuts himself up and fortifies himself in his castle aforesaid,
defending his opinions, in contemning in many ways the keys of
the Church and the archiepiscopal and episcopal power, we
caused the said Sir John, cited as is aforesaid, to be openly and
with a loud voice called by the crier, and so being called, long
looked for, and by no means appearing, we judged him, as
he was deservedly, contumacious, and in punishment of his
said contumacy we then and there excommunicated him by
writing.

And forasmuch as, from the order of the premises and other
plain tokens and evidences of facts, we have understood that the
same Sir John, in defence of his said error, fortifies himself and
shuts himself up in his castle against the keys of the Church, as
is aforesaid, on which account a vehement suspicion of heresy
and schism arises against him, we have decreed, if he may be
apprehended, again personally to cite the said Sir John, or else
by an edict as before, that he should appear before us on the
Saturday next after the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and
Evangelist, next ensuing, to show some reasonable cause, if he
has any, why we should not proceed against him to more severe
punishment as a public heretic, schismatic enemy, and adversary
of the Universal Church, and personally declare why he should
not be pronounced such, and the aid of the secular arm be
solemnly invoked against him, and further to answer, do, and
receive, as touching the premises all and singular, what justice
shall require.

Which time having arrived — viz., the Saturday next after the
Feast of St. Matthew aforesaid, being the 23rd day of Septem
ber — Sir Kobert Morley, knight, keeper of the Tower of London,
appeared before us, sitting on the tribunal in the chapterhouse
of the Church of St. Paul in London, our venerable brethren the
ords Richard of London and Henry of Winchester sifting with

516 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, us, and brought with him the said Sir John Oldcastell, knight,

_XVIL- and set him before us.

Thomas To whom the said Sir John Oldcastell, so personally present,
1397- ' we recited the whole order of the case, as is contained in the
1414> acts of the preceding day, in good and gentle terms and in a
very soothing manner — viz., how he, the said Sir John, had been
detected and accused in the convocation of the prelates and clergy
of our said province, as is aforesaid, concerning and upon th-3
articles before rehearsed, and how he was cited, and for his con
tumacy excommunicated. And when we had to come to this
point, we offered ourselves ready to absolve him.

But the said Sir John, disregarding our offer, altogether de
ferred asking absolution, and, turning himself to other points,
declared that he would willingly rehearse before us and our
said brethren his faith, which he holds and affirms. And so.
license having been sought and obtained, he took out of 1m
bosom a certain schedule indented, and there read through the
contents of the same in public, and delivered the said schedule
to us. And the tenor of the articles upon which he was
examined follows, and is thus :-—

" I, Johan Oldcastell, knyght, lord of Cobham, wolle that alle
Crysten men wyte and understonde, that yclepe Almyghty God
in to wytnesse that it hath be, now is, and ever, with the help of
God, schal be myn entent and my wylle to byleve, fethfully and
fully, alle the sacramentys that ever God ordeyned to be do in
Holy Chirche.

" And moreover for to declare me in these foure poyntys, I
byleve that the moost worshipful sacrament of the auter is
Crystis body in fourme of bred ; the same body that was born
of the blyssyd Virgyne oure lady seynt Mary, doon on the crosse,
deed, and beryed, the thrydde day roos fro deth to lyve, the
whyche body is now glorefyed in hevene.

" Also as for the sacrament of penaunce, y byleve that it is
nedeful to every man that schal be savyd to forsake synne, and
to do duhe penaunce for synne be foredon, with trewe confession,
veray contrition, and duhe satisfaccion, as Goddys' lawe lymyteth
and techeth, and ellis may he not be savyd. Whyche penaunce
y desyre alle men to doo.

" And as off ymagys I understonde that they be not of byleve,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 517

but that they were ordeyned, sythe the byleve was zyne of CHAP.
Cryst, by sufFraunce of the Chyrche, to be kalenderys to lewyd ^XVn^
men, to represente and bryng to mynde the passyon of Oure Lord Thomas
Jesus Cryst, and martirdoom and good lyvyng of other seyntis. 1397! "
And that hoso it be that doth the worschyp to deede ymagys U14-
that is dewe to God, or putteth feyth, hope, or trust in help of
hem, as he scholde do to God, or hath affeccion in oon more
than in another, he doth in that the grete synne of mawmetrie.

" Also, I suppose thys fully that every man in thys erthe is
a pylgrym toward blis or toward peyne ; and that he that
knowyth not no wyle not knowe, ne kepe the holy commaunde-
mentys of God in his lyvynge here, al bet it that he goo on
pylgremage to alle the world, and he lye so, he schal be
damnyd. And he that knowyth the holy commaundementys of
God, and kepyth hem to hys ende, he schal be savyd, though
he nevyr in hys lyff go on pylgremage, as men use now, to Can-
tirbery or to Rome, or to any other place."

This schedule, with these articles contained therein as afore
said, being read through by the said Sir John, we, with our
brethren aforesaid and many other doctors and learned men,
conferred upon the same ; and at last, by the counsel and consent
of them, we spake thus unto the said Sir John Oldcastell : —
" Behold, Sir John, in this schedule there are many good things
contained, and Catholic enough ; but you have at this time to
answer on other points savouring of errors arid heresies, to
which, by the contents of this schedule, it is not fully answered ;
and therefore you must answer thereto, and more plainly express
and declare your faith and opinions given in the said schedule
concerning the same, — viz., whether you hold, believe, and affirm
that in the sacrament of the altar, after consecration rightly
done, there remains material bread or not ? Also whether you
hold, believe, and affirm that, in the sacrament of penance, it
is necessary that anyone, having access to the priest, he should
confess his sins to a priest ordained by the Church ? "

To what was thus said, amongst many and various things
declared by the said Sir John Oldcastell, he answered expressly
t ai he would make no other declaration on the aforesaid points,
or any other kind of answer than that which was contained in
the same schedule. Whereupon we, feeling for the said Sir

518 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. John in a benign and gentle manner, then said to him, being

_X\II'_- there present : " Have a care, Sir John ! for if you do not make

Thomas answer plainly to these things objected against you within a

1397_ ' lawful time, now granted you at the command of the judge,

we may pronounce and declare you to be a heretic."

But the said Sir John conducted himself as before, and would
return no other answer. Consequently, nevertheless, we with
our said brethren and others of our council took advice, and
by their counsel declared to the said Sir John Oldcastell thai;
the Holy Church of Rome, in this matter following the words
of the blessed Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose, with other
holy men delivered, which determinations it behoves all
Catholic men to observe. To which the said Sir John replied
that he wished well to believe and observe whatever Holy
Church determined, and whatsoever God would that he should
believe and observe ; but that he would in no case affirm that
our lord the pope, the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, and
other prelates of the Church, have power of determining such
matters.

Whereupon we, yet feeling for him under hope of better
deliberation, promised the said Sir John that we would give
him certain determinations upon the matter aforesaid in
writing, in Latin, translated into English for his better
understanding, to which the said Sir John should more plainly
answer ; whereupon we commanded him and cordially desired
him that, on the Monday next following, he should give his
answer fully and clearly, which determinations we caused to be
translated the same day, and to be delivered to him the Sunday
next following. The tenor of which determinations follows in
this wise :—

" The feyth and the determinacion of Holy Chirche
towchyng the blysful sacrament of the auter is this : That after
the sacramental worclys ben seyd be a prest in hys masse, the
materyal bred that was before is turnyd into Crysty's veray
body ; and the materyal wyn that was by fore is turnyd into
Crysty's veray blood, and so there levyth in the auter no mate
ryal bred, no materyal wyn, the whyche were there before
the seyinge of the sacramental wordys. How leeve ye thys
article?

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 519

" Holy Chirche hath determined that every Crysten man levyng CHAP,
here bodelych in erthe oughte to be schryve to a prest ordryd . xvni
be the Chirche, iff he may come to hym. How fele ye thys
artycle ?

" Cryst ordeyned Seynt Petir the Apostil to be hys vycaire here
in erthe, whos see is the Chirche of Eome ; ordeynyng andgraunt-
yng the same power that he gaf to Petir scholde succede to alle
Petery's successorys, the whiche we callyn now popys of Rome.
By whos power, in chirches particuler, special ben ordeyned pre-
latis as archebischopys, byschopys, curatys, and other degrees ;
to whom Crysten men oughte to obeye, after the lawes of the
Chirche of Rome. This is the determinacion of Holy Chirche.
How fele ye thys article ?

" Holy Chirche hath determyned that it is nedeful to a
Crystyn man to go a pylgrimage to holy placys, and there
specyally to worschype holy relyques of seyntes, apostlys, mar-
tires, confessourys, and alle seyntes approvyd be the Chirche
of Rome. How fele ye thys artycle?"

On which Monday, viz. the 25th day of the said month of
September, before us and our said brethren aforesaid, having
joined with us our venerable brother Benedict, by the grace of
God Bishop of Bangor, and by our mandate and order, our
counsellors and ministers, viz. Master Henry Ware, official of our
court of Canterbury, Philip Morgan, doctor of both laws, Howel
KyfTyn, doctor of the decretals, John Kempe and William Carleton,
doctors of laws, and John Wytnam, Thomas Palmer, Robert
Wombewelle, John Whytheed, Robert Chamberleyn, Richard
Dodyngtone, and Thomas Walden, professors of divinity, also
James Cole and John Stevenys, our notaries appointed for this
purpose, they all and singular being sworn on the holy gospels
of God, touching the book, that they should give their faithful
counsel and help in the matter aforesaid, and in every such
cause, without hatred, fear, love, or favour, as they may answer
before God and the whole world.

Consequently the said Sir Robert de Morley, knight, keeper of
the Tower of London, appeared and brought with him the afore
said Sir John Oldcastell, and placed him before us. To whom
we affably and gently related the acts of the day before past, and,
as before, we told him how he, the said Sir John, had been and

520 LIVES OF THE

is excommunicate, desiring and requesting him that he should
seek and admit in due form the absolution of the Church.

To whom the said Sir John plainly answered, then and there-,
that he would seek no absolution on this point from us, but from
God alone.

Afterwards, in a gentle and moderate manner, we besought
and requested the same Sir John that he would give a plain
reply to the contents of the said schedule, containing the deter
mination of the Church, on the same and upon the articles laic
against him: and first with respect to the sacrament of the
Eucharist.

To which article, amongst other things, he answered and said
thus : That as Christ dwelling here on earth had in Him God
head and manhood, yet the Godhead was veiled and invisible
under the manhood, which was open and visible in Him, so in
the sacrament of the altar there is the very body and very bread —
bread, namely, which we do see, and the body of Christ veiled
under the same, which we do not see. And he plainly denied
that the faith touching this sacrament in the schedule afore
said transmitted to him by us, as determined by the holy Koman
Church and the holy doctors, would be or was the determination
of the Church ; but if it be the determination of the Church,
he said that it was made contrary to Holy Scripture, and after
the Church had been endowed, and poison poured into the
Church and not before.

With reference also to the sacrament of penance and con
fession, he said and asserted expressly, then and there, that if
any man were in any grievous sin, from which he knew not how
to rise, it would be expedient and good for him to go to some
holy and discreet priest to take counsel of him ; but that he
should confess his sin to his own curate or to another priest,
even if he have the means of so doing, is not necessary to salva
tion, for by contrition only can such sin be wiped away, and the
sinner himself purged.

As to the adoration of the holy cross he said and asserted, then
and there, that only the body of Christ which did hang upon
the cross ought to be worshipped, since that body alone was
and is the cross which is to be worshipped : and being asked
what honour he would do to the image of the cross, he answered,

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 521

in express words, that be would only do it that honour that he CHAP,
would make it clean and place it in good keeping. '_

With respect to the power of the keys, our lord the pope, of ^°™*i
archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, he said that the pope is 1397-
very antichrist, that is the head of the same, the archbishops,
bishops, and other prelates the members, and the friars the tail
of the same ; which pope, archbishops, and prelates a man ought
not to obey, unless so far as they may be imitators of Christ and
Peter in their life, manners, and conversation, and that he is the
successor of Peter who is better in life and purer in manners,
and none other.

Further the said Sir John, with a loud voice and with out
spread hands, addressing the bystanders, exclaimed : " These
men who judge and wish to condemn me will seduce you all, and
will lead you and themselves to hell — therefore beware of them."

When he had spoken these words, we again, as oftentimes,
with sorrowful countenance spoke to the said Sir John, exhorting
him with what words we might that he would return to the
unity of the Church, to believe and hold what the Roman Church
believes and holds, who expressly answered that he would not
believe or hold otherwise than he had before declared.

Seeing then that, as it appeared in him, we could prevail
nothing, at length, with bitterness of heart, we proceeded to
pronounce definitive sentence in this manner : —

In the name of God, Amen ! We Thomas, by divine per
mission archbishop of the holy church of Canterbury and an
humble minister, primate of all England, and legate of the
apostolic see:

In a certain cause or matter of heretical pravity concerning
and upon divers articles, whereon Sir John Oldcastell, knight,
lord of Cobham, before us in the last convocation of our clergy
of the province of Canterbury, celebrated in the church of St.
Paul at London, after diligent inquisition there made, was
detected and accused, and through our province of Canterbury
notoriously and publicly reported. At the denunciation and
requisition of the whole clergy aforesaid, thereon made to us in
the said convocation, with what favour we could, God is our
witness, lawfully proceeding against him and following the foot
steps of Christ, who willeth not the death of a sinner but rather

522 LIVES OF THE

that he may be converted and live, we strove to correct him, and
by such means as were in our power, and we were acquainted
with, to bring him back to the unity of the Church, declaring to
him what the holy Koman and Universal Church in this respect
teaches, holds, determines, and declares.

And although we at length found him in the Catholic faith so
stiffnecked that he would not confess his error, or clear himself
thereof or detest the same, yet, being favourably disposed towards
him with fatherly affection, and cordially desiring his safety, we
set him a certain proper time to deliberate, and if he were will
ing to repent and reform himself: and at length, inasmuch as
we found him incorrigible, observing chiefly those things which
by law are required in this respect, with sorrow and bitterness of
heart we proceeded to the pronouncing of a definite sentence in
this manner —

Christ's name being invoked, and having Him only before our
eyes: Forasmuch as by acts enacted, signs produced and ex
hibited, evidences, tokens, and proofs of different kinds, we have
found the said Sir John Oldcastell, knight, to have been and to
be a heretic, and a follower of heretics erring in the faith and
observance of the holy Roman and Universal Church, and espe
cially with regard to the sacraments of the eucharist and of
penance, and that as a son of wickedness and of darkness he
has so hardened his heart that he understands not the voice of
his shepherd, nor will he be allured by monitions or brought
back by entreaties.

Having first investigated, sought out, and diligently weighed
the merits of the cause aforesaid, and the demerits and faults of
the said Sir John, aggravated by his damnable obstinacy ; not
willing that he that is wicked should become more wicked and
infect others with his contagion, by the counsel and consent of
men of great discretion and wisdom, our venerable brethren
Richard Bishop of London, Henry Bishop of Winchester, and
Benedict Bishop of Bangor, and of many other doctors in sacred
theology, the decretals, and civil law, and of other religious and
learned persons our assistants, we judge, declare, and condemn in
the form of sentence and definitively in these writings the said
Sir John Oldcastell, knight, lord of Cobham, convicted concern
ing and upon this detestable accusation, and unwilling to return

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 523

penitentially to the unity of the Church, as a heretic, and erring CHAP,
in those thing which the holy Koman and Universal Church holds, .3VIL
teaches, has determined and preaches, and especially in the Thomas
articles aforementioned, leaving him from henceforth as a 1397- '
heretic to the secular judgment. 14U-

Moreover we excommunicate, and by these writings denounce
as excommunicated as a heretic, him and others, all and singular,
who henceforth, in favour of his error, shall receive, defend, or
give him counsel, aid, or favour in this matter, as favourers, re
ceivers, and defenders of heretics.

And that these premises may become known to all believers
in Christ, we charge and command you that by our said sentence
definitive in your church and through your district and diocese, by
your several curates under you in their churches, when a very
large number of people may be present, you cause them, with a
loud and audible voice, and in the mother-tongue, to declare,
publish, and expound, as is above more effectually contained in
this process, that the said Sir John Oldcastell, as aforesaid, has
been and is by us condemned as a heretic, schismatic, and one
erring in the articles above written, and others all and singular
who from henceforth in favour of his error shall receive or de
fend the said Sir John, or shall afford him counsel, help, or favour
in this matter, as favourers, receivers, and defenders of heretics,
that so the erroneous opinions of the people, who perchance have
in this matter conceived otherwise than the truth of the thing
warrants, may by this public declaration be rescinded.

Which also we wish and command to be written and made
known, word for word, by you, to our several brethren the suffra
gans of our province of Canterbury ; that they all and singular,
through their cities and dioceses, may declare, publish, and
expound the manner and form of this our process, and the said
sentence by us given ; and all and singular the other things
contained in the same, and similarly cause them to be published
by their ministers and curates.

As concerning the day of the receipt of these presents, and

what you have done in the premises, and how you and they have

executed this our mandate, we desire that you and they duly

and distinctly certify us on the said business being done, by your

f and their letters-patent, having this tenor.

524 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Given at our manor of Maydeston the 10th day of October,
A.D. 1413, and in the year of our translation the 18th.*

The account given above might have been rendered
more interesting if, instead of being presented to the
reader in a literal translation, it had been interspersed
with notes and illustrations : but it might have been
supposed, under such circumstances, that justice was
not done to one or other of the parties. It is clear thai;
Arundel desired to treat the accused with all the civility
and consideration which the circumstances of the case-
would permit; and we may come to the conclusion that
if Sir John Oldcastle was a saint, Archbishop Arundel
did not exhibit himself in this case, as "a beast," or
" a wolf," or anything less than a fallible man.

Of the morality of the Arundel family we cannot make
a very favourable report. Although we believe that the
archbishop himself was born in wedlock, f yet there is no
doubt that his father, the fifth earl, had intrigued with
his second wife, during the lifetime of his first wife.
And Henry Beaufort, the future cardinal, first cousin of
the archbishop, availed himself of the intimacy to which
he was admitted in the family to win the affections of his
sister. The Lady Alice Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of
Arundel, and sister of the primate, was acknowledged as
the mother of Ilemy Beaufort's daughter, — a daughter
who was carefully educated, and who was afterwards
married to Sir Edward Stradling, knight of Glamorgan
shire. The Lady Alice may have been married to Henry

* Wilkins, iii. 253, et scq. Fascic. Zizan. 433.

•f Drake — Eboracum, 436 — says, that by some circumstances in his
arms, the archbishop was suspected to be illegitimate. His legitimacy
seems to be established by Dugdale and Tieraey, i. 234. If he had
been illegitimate, there must have been a dispensation for his conse
cration. If such a dispensation exists it will not escape the learned
research of Messrs. Dixon and Kaine in the Fasti Eboracenses.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 525

Beaufort before he received holy orders ; but if she CHAP.

XVTT

continued to live with him after his ordination, though in > — ,-L
the eye of the law she would continue to be his wife, she Arm
would be treated by the Church as his concubine. The |^<[-
children would be legitimate, for the Church never suc
ceeded in bastardising the children of the clergy; and
while stigmatising the wives of the clergy by calling them
concubines, never denied the validity of the civil contract.
The law of marriage as it exists in Scotland is the old
law, and is still the law in foreign countries under the
Eoman obedience. The constrained celibacy of the
clergy occasioned these anomalies, and introduced a lax
tone of morals throughout society.*

Of the last days of Arundel's life little is known, nor
are we acquainted with the circumstances of his death.
We only know that it was occasioned by an inflammation
of the throat — probably a quinsy. He was away from home
at the time, and the seizure was sudden. He was carried
to the rectory of Hackington, and on the 19th of February,
1414, between the hours of three and four o'clock, he
departed this life. The Lollards, with a piety which
regards whatever occurs according to their wishes as pecu
liarly providential, and which is oblivious of the charity
which thinketh no evil ; represented the blistering of the
poor man's tongue as a punishment from Heaven for his
having pronounced the sentence of the law upon the
godly. He had in his lifetime caused a tomb to be erected
in the nave of his cathedral for the reception of his
corpse ; and there he was interred. The tomb, with the
chapel connected with it, has been robbed and destroyed ;
and of Arundel, therefore, no monument now remains. f

* The whole subject, as viewed by the Roman authorities, is dis
cussed and described in an interesting pamphlet (of which I forget the
title), published for the purpose of proving the validity of the marriage
of Mrs. Fitzherbert with George IV.

f Somner, 134. When the monument was about to "be erected to

526 LIVES OF THE

CHAP. Of Arundcl's munificence mention has been already

XVII

made. In the second year of his primacy he contributed
largely to the completion of the nave of the cathedral
which Sudbury had commenced. The following is an
extract from his will : —

" One green vestment with twenty-one copes of one kind, and
another cope of cloth of gold, one golden mitre ornamented witb.
divers gems and precious stones, one large pastoral staff of silver,
gilded all over, one golden chalice for the high altar, with two
vessels for water of gold of the value of two hundred marks, and
another chalice of gold for the Feast of St. Thomas worth forty
pounds, with various other jewels, three lamps of silver hanging
before the high altar, and five bells of sweetest sound commonly
called ' The Arundel Ryng.' He gave also two missals, and
many valuable books, with other church ornaments.* He
bestowed also on the fabric of the nave of the church a
thousand marks. He procured too the annexation and union
of the parish church of Grodmersham to this church, from the
fruits and revenues of which he ordered to be distributed to each
monk of this church six shillings and eightpence every year, on
the day of the return of the precious martyr Thomas, in memory
of him. He also bequeathed to this church one valuable book,
in which are contained all the books of the blessed Gregory,
forbidding, under pain of the greater excommunication, which
he in reality fulminated, that anyone should in any way alienate
this book from the church of Canterbury." f

Arundel at Canterbury by his executors, they sent to York for a copy
of his effigy there, which was made and forwarded to them. The
carriage of the wooden effigy cost 3s. 4d. " Soluti Marcell carior, pro j
ymagine de ligno facta pro exemplar! mittendo London executoribus
Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, 3s. 4d." — York Fabric Rolls, 39.

* Ang. Sac. i. G2.

•f From the inventory of the jewels, &c. belonging to York Cathedral
temp. Edward VI., it would appear that the archbishop had not been
unmindful of the northern province over which he had presided. The
following entry occurs : " Two copes of clothe of goulde — one having
the assumption, the other the purification of Our Lady ; two copes of

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

527

I add an inventory of his goods : —

INVENTORIUM DOMINI THOM^E ARUNDELL.

II.

d.
viij.

Imprim. . pro ij. mitris . . . cxxxiij. vj,
Aulse . . viij. Aula3 cum toto Appa-

ratu .... Ixvj. xiij. iv.

Cameras . xxiv. lecti cum toto Ap-

paratu . . . clxxix. x.
Grarderobaa . Duae petiae de Arace . xxx.

Robae D'omini cum linte-

amentis, &c. . . Ixxviiij.
Capella . Diversa vestimenta cum

pannis Auri Aulter

cloths et alio suo Ap-

paratu . . . cccclx. i. vij.
Omnia jocalia auri, ar-

genti, cum crucibus,

imaginibus, tabulectis

thuribulis phiolis aliis-

que ornament is . . cccclv.
Omnes libri pertinentes

ad capellam . . ccvij. xix.

Oratorum 1 Ornamenta Oratorii cum
cum studio . J omnibus libris de studio
Celarium . Omnes cyphi de argento

et de auro cum suis

cooperculis simul aqua-

riis deauratis
Omnes cyphi de puro auro

simul cumuno aquar.et

eisdem cooperculis pro.
Panetria . Omnia salaria argenti

et deaurat. cum na-

peria, cultellis, &c. . Ixx. xiij. iv.

sanguine purple clothe of goulde ; two copes with daisies ; two copes of
red velvett with eagles ; two red copes with images of needlework upon
them ; one cope of red clothe of goulde, ex dono Thomas Arundel."—
York Fabric Rolls, 309.

CHAP.
XVII.

Thomas

Arundel,

1397-

1414.

II-

ccclij. viij. vj.

ccnj,

cxxxiij. vj. vnj,

528

LIVES OF THE

CHAP.
XVII.

— • — i — — '
Thomas
Arundel.
1397-
1414.

Eleemosyn.
cum Aquar.
et vasis pro
Speciebus

Sensellard

Coquina

Stabulum

' Omnes pelves cum lavacris
et deaurat. simul cum
navibus et discis elee-
mosyn. nee nou cum
spice-plateis et discis
argenti et deaura-
tis pro speciebus et
fructibus

Chargeurs, platei, disci
cum salsariis argenti,
et candionis et gir-
dionis argenti

Omnes Olke de Latin,
cupro, et aenico, simul
cum patellis, gridirons,
verubus, racks, cu-
bords, scurnrners, et
bujusmodi

Omnes palfridi, cursores,
somerar. cum equis
charectis et suis har-
nes et pertinentiis

Item, Blada in rnanibus
Firmarii

Blada in manibus Domini

per aBstimationem
Staurum vivum in mani

bus Domini pera3stima-

tionem
Staurum mortuum in

manibus Domini
Ratum reddituum et

firmarii, &c.

ccxcvnj,

cccv. xij. vj,

XIX. XV11J. llj.

Ixxxij.

MDXLvij. xvj. viij.
ob. qu. dimid. qu.

DLxvj. xiij. iv.

cccxvj.
Ixix. xiij.

V11J.

ccccxxxnj. vj. vnj.

Summa totalis MMMMMviij. xij. vii.
ob. qu. dimid. qu.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

529

APPENDIX TO CHAPTEE XVII.

NEITHER Parker nor Godwin nor Somner include the name of
Roger Walden in their list of the Archbishops of Canterbury.
Nevertheless he was for two years de facto, if not de jure,
primate, and therefore his name appears in the " Registrum
Sacrum " of Mr. Stubbs.

Under these circumstances, I have thought it right to append
to this chapter the few notices I have been able to collect of
Walden, whose character, whether he was a usurper or not,
stands out in favourable contrast to that of Arundel.

According to Fuller,* Roger Walden was a native of the
market town of Walden in Essex, which, being celebrated for
the cultivation of saffron, was afterwards known by the name of
Saffron Walden. His parentage was humble,f and it does not
appear that he repaired for his education to either of the uni
versities.

His talents were considerable, and his industry was so great,
that he commended himself to the notice of Henry Lord Percy,
through whose patronage, in 1374, he was instituted to the
church of Kirkby Overblow, in Yorkshire. Here he remained
for several years, and then his preferments were rapid. He was
parson of the church of Drayton in 13824 In 1387 he was
made Archdeacon of Winchester, and in 1389 he was Prebendary
of Thame. In 1391 he returned to his native county, having
been appointed to the Rectory of Fordham, in the presentation
of the crown. J

* Fuller's Worthies, i. 505.

f This is said on the authority of Walsingham : " Ex pauperculo factus
regni thesaurarius." Walsingham, ii. 272.
| Fcedera, vii. 349.
§ Newcourt.
VOL. IV. M M

CHAP.
XVII.

Thomas
Arundel.

1397-

1414.
Appendix.

530 LIVES OF THE

I find him in 1393 in occupation of the stall of Caistor in
the cathedral of Lincoln — the mention of which fact may render
it pardonable if I pause to pay a passing tribute of respect and
gratitude to the learned Bishop Kaye, by whom that prebend
was conferred upon the writer of these lines. Over the stall of
each prebendary are engraven the first words of certain psalms,
upon which the prebendary is expected daily to meditate, when
not otherwise let or hindered. Over the stall of Caistor are the
words, "Mirabilia usque ad Lastatus sum;" and in meditating
from the 29th verse of the 119th Psalm to the end of the 121st,
he found rest to his soul amidst the many cares of a troublous
life. Of his life it has been said : " Vix quenquam reperias qui
variantes fortune vicissitudines magis est expertus." * Often
must the words he habituated himself to use have come to his
heart, as they have done to some among his successors. Happy
they who have to perform as a duty what is the comfort and
delight of their hearts !

Walden was at this time a considerable pluralist. In 1394,
he was appointed to the prebend of Pipa Minor in Lichfield,
and in 1395 he became Dean of York. He held, in common
with the deanery, a living in Lincolnshire, and some preferment
in the Isle of Jersey.

Preferments were heaped upon Walden, as we have seen to be
the case in so many instances, to provide him with an income
while he was engaged in the service of the State. In May 1388,
he was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate a truce
with the Court of Flanders and certain Flemish towns. He
was at this time treasurer of Calais, f His name occurs in the
same year as a " Capitanus in partibus Picardise." J On the
5th of November 1389 he was again appointed a commissioner
to treat with the court and people of Flanders ; his style then

* Godwin — who, however, borrows the reflection from Walsingham :
" Qui vnria fortuna vectus, expertus est sub brevi tempore quam sit
— Inconstans, incerta, volubilis ipsa,
Errans, instabilis, vaga, quae, dum stare putatur,
Occidit, et falso mcntitur gaudia vultu."

— Walsingham, ii. 272.

t Fcedera, iii. pt. iv. 23. He is styled " Roger Walden, tresorer de
Caleys."
tlbid. S3.

AKCHBISIIOrS OF CANTERBURY.

531

being " .Roger Waldene, Archediac. de Wyncestre, tresorer de
Caleys."*

That Eoger Walden, thus eminent as a diplomatist, was also
a man of literature appears from a history of his which is to be

CHAP.
XVII.

Thomas

Arundel.

1397-

found in the Cotton Library — "Kogeri Walden episc. Lond. ,1414v

*" Appendix.

Historia ab orbe condito, tabellis chronologicis digesta cum
serie Eomanorum Pontificum ad Honorium et inde imperatorutn
Eomanorum a Julio Ca3sare ad Johannem Porphyrogenitum."
Julius, B. xiii.f

In 1395 Walden was appointed Lord High Treasurer of
England. J

When Arundel was driven into exile, under the circumstances
described in his life, and when the king determined to treat
the primacy as vacant, he desired to place on the archiepiscopal
throne one on whom he could entirely rely. Walden, though not
known as a divine, was a statesman who had acted consistently
with the king's party; and Richard was determined to have
him as his primate. We can hardly acquit the king of a guilty
participation in the attempt made upon the life of Arundel : he
certainly applied to Pope Boniface to violate the statutes of
the realm, and to appoint Walden by provision to the see of
Canterbury ; § which thing the pope could only do by declaring
Arundel translated to St. Andrews, a translation which Arundel
repudiated. The Bull of Provision, however, came at the desire
of the king ; although the pope afterwards affirmed it was given
by a mistake, and under false representations. The Lord High
Treasurer was consecrated to the primacy on the 3rd of February

* Foedera, iii. 49.

1 1 have seen the book. It is a large MS. in quarto.

j 1 Pat. 19, R. ii. m. 18. He must have had some difficulty in meeting
the expenses which had been incurred at the king's marriage in 1396. The
king's expenditure on this occasion was, according to Walsingham, great.
"Fuit autem iste Regum apparatus grandis et sumptuosus in donariis et
expensis ; nam pneter dona qiue Rex Anglian dedit Regi Francite, aliisque
proceribus illius regni, qua superaverunt siimmam deccm miliwn marcarum,
Rex expendit, ut dicitur, trecenta milia marcantm et amplius, ea vice."

§ "Misit Rex clam ad Curiam Ronianam, pro translatione ejusdem ;
effecitque ut Rogerus de Waldene, regni pro tune Thesaurarius, pro eo
Archiepiscopus ordinaretur. Qui, quia cubile patris sui viventis ascendere
praesumpsit, post biennium dejectus est auctoritate Papa) prsefati."-
Walsingham, ii. 22G.

532 LIVES OF THE

1398 — Eobert Braybrook, Bishop of London, being probably
the consecrator. He received the pall on the 17th of February.

Of Walden's acts, during his brief occupation or usurpation of
the see of Canterbury, little can be said ; for Arundel, on his
restoration, caused his register to be destroyed, not admitting
the reality or legality of any of his proceedings.

Whether by Walden's advice or not, the king was guilty at
this time, of one of those many unconstitutional acts which, in
the end, cost him his crown. The pope had acted in defiance
of the law, and with injustice to his friend Arundel. to oblige
the king ; but a quid pro quo was required, and the king, by
a despotic exercise of his dispensing power, granted a suspension
or, as he called it, a modification of the statute against provisors.
The document prepared for this purpose, and dated 1398, pro
fesses to be an interpretation of the Act. It was declared that
in the event of a vacancy in a bishopric, the pope might nomi
nate anyone in whose behalf the king might make application ;
and that in all cathedral and collegiate churches, the pope
might provide his cardinals or any others, being Englishmen,
with three benefices alternately with the diocesan, so that it was
not a chief dignity requiring residence.*

Although Walden's reign was a short one, yet it was a merry
one. His enthronisation was conducted on a scale of great
magnificence, — the king attending. He also — before the king
sailed for Ireland, and when he desired to pay his devotion at
the shrine of St. Thomas — entertained the court with profuse
hospitality. He on this occasion maintained the royal body
guard, and escorted the king to London.f

The king soon found that his concessions to Rome had given
offence to the clergy as well as to the laity, and that the
measure to which he had consented weakened his hands instead
of affording him strength. Some bishops refused translation,
when the pope offered to remove them from one see to another.
The king, with that subtlety which he frequently displayed,
thought to place the recalcitrant clergy in a dilemma : he put
to them the question, through Walden, whether the pope had a
right to translate bishops at his pleasure. With the practical

* Willdns, iii. 207.

t Contin. Eulog., 378, 380.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

533

spirit of Englishmen, the clergy declined an answer to the
abstract question ; but they addressed the king requesting him
to urge it upon the pope to make no translations for the future.
Boniface sent a nuncio to England — Peter de Bosco — who was
honourably entertained, but was given to understand that the
king could not resist the public opinion, which was strong
against provisions, or (as the word had now come to be under
stood) against papal appointments in any shape.*

During Walden's occupancy of the archiepiscopal throne, a
proposal came from the Church of France, by which it was sug
gested that the Church of England should co-operate with the
Grallican prelates in an attempt to bring to a termination the
schism in the papacy. There were two popes in existence —
Boniface IX., who was acknowledged by England, and Bene
dict XIII., who was recognised as pope by France. The attempt
was at this time unsuccessful, and the whole subject will
come before us in the Life of Chicheley. We need there
fore only mention here that the convocation at which the
Festivals of St. David, St. Chad, St. Winifred, and the weekly
commemoration of St. Thomas of Canterbury were appointed,
was held under the presidency of Walden, though the institu
tions were afterwards confirmed by Arundel. The convocation,
probably, only cared on this occasion to carry out the measures
previously proposed by Arundel.

On the return of Arundel, Walden naturally felt alarmed.
His first step was, as became a treasurer, to secure all the
property of the see. The plate, the furniture, the jewels, and
all the valuables that were moveable, either at Canterbury or at
Rochester, he took with him, and deposited them, as he thought,
in safety in the camp. We should have heard, perhaps, if any
thing had been lost when the camp was robbed after the mutiny
in Wales. But notwithstanding his alarm and his precautions,
the conduct of the two prelates was such as to reflect credit upon
both of them. Arundel, as we have seen, was placable — Walden
was conciliatory.

Severe measures were adopted against the political friends of
Walden : and Walden's own life was threatened. But he was

CHAP.
XVII.

Thomas

Anmdel.

1397-

1414.

Appendix.

* Walsingliam, 350.

534 LIVES OF THE

CHAP, spared by the earnest intercession of Arundel ; and, having made
XVII^ restitution of the property of the see of Canterbury, he retired
Thomas into private life.* All we know of him during the next five

Arundel. A .

1397- years is that, during a portion of that period he was reduced to
great distress.

Appendix. c

"Now," says Fuller, " Roger Walden was reduced to Roger Walden, as
poor as at his first beginning : for although all maintained that the charac
ter of a bishop was indelible, this Roger found that a bishopric was dealable,
having nothing whereon to subsist until Archbishop Arimdel, nobly reflect
ing his worth or want, or both, procured him to be made Bishop of London.
But he enjoyed that place only so long as to be a testimony to all posterity
of Arundel's civility unto him, dying before the year was expired. He may
be compared to one so jawfallen, with over-long fasting, that he cannot
eat meat when brought unto him ; and his spirits were so depressed with his
former ill-fortunes, that he could not enjoy himself in his new unexpected
happiness, "f

Walden made his profession to Archbishop Arundel, as Bishop
of London,^ June 29, 1405, and was installed the next day : he
received the temporalities July 28.

Various dates are assigned to his death. According to
"Arunders Register" it occurred January 6, 1406; according
to Weever, on the 2nd of November of that year. He was
buried in the Priory of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield ; and upon
his monument was this epitaph, inlaid in brass : § —

" Ilic jacet Rogerus de Walden Episcopus Londinens.
Qui cum in utraque fortuna plurimum laboravit
Ex hac vita migravit 2 die Novem. an. dom. 140G.

Vir, cultor vents Domini, jacet intra Rogerus.

Walden : Fortuna cui nunquam steterat una.

Nunc requiem tumuli Deus omnipotens dedit illi,

Gaudet et in celis plaudet ubi quisque fidelis."

He had learned wisdom during his retirement. In defiance
of the Statute of Provisors, he had accepted the primacy by

* " Rogerum Walden omnia qua) reciperat de episcopatu Cantuariensi
Thomre de Arundel restituere fecit; et ad preces ejusdem Thoma3 vitain sibi
concessit." — Contin. Eulog. 385.

t Fuller's Worthies, i. 505.

J lie obtained the see by the pope's bull of provision, published December
10, 1404 : in this he is styled " Episcopus ecclesia3 universalis."

§ Weever, 434.

ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.

535

papal provision. Weever says that, in regard to the Bishopric of
London, he refused to accept it from anyone but the king ; and
he cites the following document : —

" Cum summus Pontifex nuper providisset Kogero Waldende Ecclesia
Cathedral. London, proefatus tamen Rogerus dominicum beneficium sine
Regis assensu et licentia acceptare noluit, nee vult ni presenti Rex concedit
eidem Rogero licentiam quod ipse tanquam verus Pastor, et Episcopus dictce
Ecclesire Catliedralis eandem ecclesiam capere valeat et acceptare." — T. R.
apud W., 24 Junii.

CHAP.
XVII.

Thomas
Arundel.

1397-

1414.

Appendix.

END OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.

LONDON

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